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RABBI  HARRY  LEv 


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m  -2  IS! 

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■     O       1  JO  J 

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L161— H41 

THE  CHAUTAUQUA  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION 

COURSE  BOOK 

JEWISH  CHARACTERS  IN  FICTION 
ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


BY 

RABBI  HARRY  LEVI 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 
The  Jewish  Chautauqua  Society 
P.  O.  Box  825 


COPYRIGHT,  1903,  BY 
THE  JEWISH  CHAUTAUQUA  SOCIETY 


THE  FRIEDENWALD  COMPANY 
BALTIMORE,  MD.,  U.  S.  A. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Page 


A  Word  of  Preface                                                               .  .  5 

Introduction   7 

Lesson 

I.  "The  Jew  of  Malta,"  by  Christopher  Marlowe.'   13 

II.  "  Merchant  of  Venice,"  by  William  Shakespeare   21 

III.  "The  Duenna,"  by  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan   30 

/  IV.  "The  Jew,"  by  Richard  Cumberland   37 

V.  "Ivanhoe,"  by  Sir  Walter  Scott   42 

VI.  "Oliver  Twist,"  by  Charles  Dickens   51 

VII.  "  Our  Mutual  Friend,"  by  Charles  Dickens  .  ^   58 

VIII.  "Tancred,"  by  Benjamin  Disraeli   64 

IX.  "The  Vale  of  Cedars,"  by  Grace  Aguilar   73 

X.  "Daniel  Deronda,"  by  George  Eliot   80 

XI.  "The  Dance  to  Death,"  by  Emma  Lazarus   90 

XII.  "The  Rebel  Queen,"  by  Walter  Besant   97 

XIII.  "The  Children  of  the  Ghetto,"  by  Israel  Zangwill   104 

XIV.  "The  Sons  of  the  Covenant,"  by  Samuel  Gordon   115 

XV.  "The  Heirs  of  Yesterday,"  by  Emma  Wolf     •      .....  121 

XVI.  "Deborah,"  by  James  Ludlow   131 

XVII.  Bibliography   139 


A  WORD  OF  PREFACE. 


This  little  course  of  readings  owes  its  birth  to  a  suggestion 
made  by  Mrs.  Minnie  D.  Louis,  the  able  Field  Secretary  of  the 
Jewish  Chautauqua  Society.  Some  years  ago  Mrs.  Louis  vis- 
ited Wheeling,  and  while  there  attended  a  meeting  of  one  of  the 
temple  classes  pursuing  a  course  somewhat  similar  to  this.  Be- 
coming interested  in  the  work  and  thinking  others  might  be 
equally  interested,  she  advised  the  Society  she  represented  to 
issue  a  syllabus  treating  of  fiction  in  which  Jewish  characters 

¥  played  part.  The  suggestion  met  with  approval.  The  task  of 
preparing  the  syllabus  was  assigned  to  me,  and  this  little  volume 

^  is  the  result. 

The  books  herein  considered  are  more  or  less  familiar  to  all. 
I  Eight  of  them  are  made  the  subject  of  study  in  Dr.  David 
■  PhiHpson's    The  Jew  in  English  Fiction."    In  addition,  valua- 
ble articles  have  been  written  by  scholars  the  world  over,  but 
rhost  of  these  articles  are  inaccessible.    The  bibliographies  ac- 
''^companying  each  lesson  show  the  source  whence  much  informa- 
tion was  gathered.    I  owe  many  thanks  to  Dr.  Henry  Berkowitz 
^and  the  Educational  Council  of  the  Jewish  Chautauqua  Society 
^for  suggestions  and  helpful  criticism.    Unpretentious  as  is  the 
yittle  booklet,  it  is  still  too  much  to  hope  that  it  will  be  free  from 
error.    That  more  mistakes  have  not  crept  in,  is  due  largely  to 
\he  valuable  assistance  of  Mr.  Max  J.  Kohler,  to  whom  I  am 
indebted  more  than  I  can  say.    In  the  field  herein  traversed, 
VMr.  Kohler  is  an  authority  of  whose  kindly  aid  I  have  gladly 
P^availed  myself. 

Harry  Levi. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


1- 


https://archive.org/details/jewishcharactersOOIevi 


INTRODUCTION. 


History  is  a  systematic  record  of  past  events."  Fiction, 
in  a  literary  sense,  is  narrative  in  prose  form,  in  which  the  in- 
cidents, characters  and  scenes,  are  partly  or  wholly  imagined." 
The  difference  is  vital.  In  history  we  are  concerned  with  facts, 
in  fiction  merely  with  fancy  erected  on  a  foundation  of  fact. 
Even  historic  fictio-n,  though  trying  to  depict  fact  in  interesting 
form,  justifies  its  title,  by  using  the  imagination  freely.  The  Jew 
in  English  fiction  is  not  a  historic  Jew.  He  is  scarcely  a  pos- 
sible Jew.  Yet  he  is  interesting,  because  he  is  so  unreal,  because 
the  pictures  drawn  of  him  show  us  what  the  world  beUeved  (and 
believes)  of  Jewish  thought  and  Jewish  life. 

It  is  a  late  day  to  apologize  for  studying  the  Jew  in  English 
fiction.  Be  it  confessed,  this  singular  Jew  has  exerted  an  in- 
flu^ence  in  molding  popular  conceptions  (or  misconceptions)  con- 
cerning matters  Jewish,  altogether  disproportionate  to  his  real 
importance.  It  is  worth  the  student's  while  to  study  this  inter- 
esting character,  to  learn  what  causes  gave  him  birth  and  influ- 
ence, to  determine  in  how  far  he  is  historic  and  in  how  far  fic- 
titious. 

The  course  here  presented  opens  with  The  Jew  of  Malta." 
Marlowe,  of  course,  was  not  the  first  to  treat  of  the  Jew  in  fiction, 
but  while  in  earlier  years  this  treatment  had  been  given  some 
attention,  the  attention  was  rather  spasmodic  at  best,  and  the 
results  scarcely  successful  or  satisfactory.    Marlowe's  creation 


8 


Introduction 


was  indeed  a  wonderfully  curious  and  grotesque  figure.  The 
elements  of  the  impossible  were  so  mixed  in  him,  that  nature 
could  not  stand  up  and  say  to  all  the  world,  This  is  a  man." 
Three  and  a  half  centuries  have  passed  since  he  appeared  on  the 
literary  horizon.  The  Jew  in  fiction  is  still  somewhat  grotesque, 
but  he  is  an  improvement  on  his  ancestors.  Knowledge  is  sav- 
ing. The  development  of  the  Jew  in  fiction  has  kept  pace  with 
the  development  of  knowledge  of  the  Jew  of  history. 

Since  Marlowe's  day,  fiction  has  made  free  use  of  the  Jew. 
To-day,  indeed,  he  is  a  popular  figure  in  literature.  Whether  it 
be  an  illustration  of  tardy  justice,  or  an  effort  to  obey  the 
demands  of  the  curious,  the  Jew  of  English  fiction  is  becoming 
daily  more  prominent  and,  what  is  even  more  gratifying  and  en- 
couraging, is  becoming  more  and  more  a  man  and  less  and  less 
a  freak. 

Yet  it  is  no  easy  task  to  select  from  the  heterogeneous  mass 
of  fiction  in  which  the  Jew  plays  part,  a  list  of  books  satisfying 
at  once  the  reader's  sense  of  justice,  yearning  for  information 
and  desire  to  be  entertained.  Some  years  ago,  I  am  told,  the 
Unity  Clubs  asked  a  number  of  representative  men  to  desig- 
nate tKe  ten  grerjest  novels  in  the  English  language.  Among 
the  books  finding  mention  were,  Hugo's  Les  Miserables  "  and 
Auerbach's  Auf  der  Hohe."  Were  we  to  pursue  a  somewhat 
similar  course  and  consider  as  English  literature,  works  origin- 
ally written  in  a  foreign  tongue,  but  later  translated  into  our 
own,  our  task  might  be  a  simpler  one.  But  resisting  the  tempta- 
tion to  trespass  in  foreign  fields,  and  remaining  within  our 
own  borders,  we  experience  no  little  difficulty  in  creating  a 
satisfactory  course  out  of  unsatisfactory  material.    A  Jew  is 


Introduction 


9 


tempted  to  select  just  those  volumes  in  which  his  coreligionists 
are  given  worthy  expression.  To  give  further  publicity  to  cari- 
catures of  his  own  people,  is  far  from  being  a  congenial  pursuit. 
But  first  of  all,  a  course  describing  the  representative  Jew  would 
be  woefully  limited,  and  in  the  second  place,  such  a  course  would 
give  the  reader  a  false  impression  of  the  world's  estimate  of  the 
Jew.  If  literature  is  the  expression  of  a  people's  life,  that  liter- 
ature will  give  us  the  key  to  men's  mutual  estimates.  The 
Jew  in  fiction  is  the  Jew  as  men  saw  him.  True,  they  saw  him 
with  perverted  vision.  Yet  their  point  of  view  is  not  without 
interest  for  us.  We  want  to  know  what  the  Jew  is,  and  we  want 
to  bring  that  knowledge  to  others.  But  we  are  equally  desirous 
of  learning  what  men  thought  of  our  ancestors,  what  they  think 
of  us,  how  they  came  by  such  estimates.  If  we  are  to  study  the 
Jew  as  he  appears  in  English  fiction,  we  must  take  him  for 
what  he  is  worth,  considering  the  pictures  which  representative 
writers  have  drawn  of  him.  Sometimes  those  pictures  may  be 
exaggerated.  Often  they  may  rouse  our  indignation.  Some- 
times their  absurdities  will  merely  stir  us  to  laughter.  We  shall 
at  least  gain  in  knowledge  and  loyalty,  and  perhaps  in  liberality 
too. 

The  course  here  presented  appeared  originally  in  the  "  Men- 
orah,"  the  official  organ  of  the  "  Jewish  Chautauqua  Society." 
In  the  revision  however,  a  number  of  changes  have  been  made. 
The  introduction  has  been  largely  rewritten,  the  articles  in  the 
"  Required  Readings  "  bearing  upon  the  subject  of  the  lesson, 
have  been  altogether  replaced  by  the  Studies"  preceding  each 
lesson,  in  some  Instances  the  lists  of  Recommended  Readings  " 
have  been  lengthened,  a  few  new  suggestions  have  been  made. 


lO 


Introduction 


a  new  article  on  Marlowe  and  Shakespeare  has  been  added, 
and  some  new  material  has  been  incorporated  in  the    study  of 

Sheridan  and  Cumberland."  Otherwise  the  course  remains 
practically  unchanged.  It  consists  of  sixteen  lessons,  each  de- 
voted to  the  consideration  of  one  book  in  which  the  Jew  plays 
a  prominent  role.  The  entire  course  is  to  be  covered  in  eight 
months.  Two  weeks  may  seem  but  a  short  time  in  which  to 
accomplish  much.  But  by  cultivating  regular  habits  of  study, 
the  syllabus  can  be  easily  completed  in  the  required  time.  In 
the  matter  of  time,  the  needs  of  each  reader  and  the  best  judg- 
ment of  circle  leaders  must,  however,  decide. 

The  brief  articles  preceding  each  lesson,  are  designed  merely 
as  introductions,  or  supplements  to  the  lessons.  While  consti- 
tuting part  of  the  Required  Reading,''  they  do  not  pretend 
to  be  exhaustive,  or  to  do  the  subjects  oi  which  they  treat  full 
justice.  They  aim,  by  summing  up  in  brief  compass  some  of 
the  main  facts  of  the  subject,  to-  provide  short  suggestive  studies 
easily  accessible  to  the  reader. 

The  Required  Readings  "  may  be  here  more  extensive  than 
in  other  Chautauqua  courses.  Whether  more  time  will  be  de- 
manded, is  open  to  question.  In  reading  history,  attention 
must  be  given  to  details.  To  be  remembered,  history  must  be 
read  and  reread,  must  be  studied.  Fiction  on  the  other  hand 
reads  easily  and  interests  where  perhaps  history  may  not.  Does 
this  explain  the  popularity  of  the  novel?  Yet  it  is  poor  read- 
ing that  knows  no  study.  To  read  aright,  we  must  do  more 
than  be  entertained.  Our  knowledge  must  grow  from  more 
to  more and  our  lives  become  larger,  better,  stronger. 

The  course  is  designed  for  individual  readers,  as  for  classes. 


\ 

Introduction  ii 

Where  the  course  is  being  followed  by  classes,  the  Required 
Readings  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  member.  Where 
this  is  not  possible  a  class  library  should  be  created,  the  books 
being  purchased  by  small  regular  contributions  from  all  the 
members.  Some  of  the  Recommended  Readings can  be 
secured  in  the  same  way.  Note  that  the  Required  Readings  " 
must  be  read  by  every  member.  The  "  Recommended  Read- 
ings "  are  for  those  who  have  time  and  incHnation  for  further 
study  of  the  subjects  under  consideration.  For  the  essayist 
they  will  prove  extremely  helpful. 

The  ^'  Readings  in  Class  consist  of  a  short  poem  and  story, 
in  most  instances  having  some  reference  to  the  subject  of  the 
lesson,  or  the  hoHday  near  which  the  meeting  is  being  held. 

Finally,  a  few  practical  suggestions.  Read  the  Required 
Readings  carefully.  Class  work  brings  good  returns,  but  the 
larger  results  are  obtained  through  individual  study. 

Give  the  Suggestions  close  attention.  They  sum  up  the 
most  important  facts  in  the  lesson. 

iVnswer  the  Tests  and  Reviews  "  as  thoroughly  as  you  can. 
It  would  be  well  to  enter  these  answers  in  a  note  book  provided 
for  that  purpose.  Ask  at  the  meeting  for  information  you  can- 
not otherwise  secure. 

Do  not  hesitate  to  express  yourself.  Argument  is  the  mother 
of  knowledge. 

As  you  read,  mark  passages  you  deem  important.  Do  not 
take  everything  for  granted.  Distinguish  between  fact  and  fic- 
tio-n.    Remember  you  can  dispute  only  when  you  know. 

Our  lessons  concern  themselves  with  the  Jew  as  he  is  pictured 
in  EngHsh  fiction.  Yet  our  aim  is  to  find  the  Jew  of  history. 
We  can  know  only  as  we  study. 


12  Introduction 

It  will  be  found  that  an  original  essay  on  the  book  under 
consideration,  a  discussion  of  both  book  and  essay,  and  a  brief 
report  of  literary  notices  concerning  Jewish  authors,  or  Jewish 
characters  in  literature,  will  lend  interest  to  the  meetings.  The 
program  of  the  meetings  might  be  as  follows: 

Reading  of  minutes. 

Review  of  essay  of  preceding  meeting. 

Readings  in  Class. 

Essay  on  book  being  studied. 

Discussion. 

Abstracts  of  some  of  the    Recommended  Readings." 
Book  News. 

If  all  the  members  are  willing  to  work,  assign  the  papers  and 
readings  alphabetically.  Under  no  circumstances  exclude  from 
the  meetings,  those  who,  wilHng  to  attend,  are  unwilling  tc 
participate  actively.  Perhaps  attendance  will  subsequently  bring 
about  desired  results. 

Parliamentary  exactness  is  not  a  necessity.  Good  work  is 
possible  without  it. 


LESSON  I. 


I.  Required  Reading. 

*'The  Jew  of  Malta/'    Christopher  Marlowe.  (1564-1593.) 

The  sixteenth  century  in  England  was  a  turbulent  one. 
Henry  VIII  ascended  the  throne  in  1509,  and  died  in  1547.  His 
son  Edward  being  but  nine  years  of  age,  the  government  was 
then  carried  on  by  a  board  of  regents  made  up  of  both  Protest- 
ants and  Catholics,  but  dominated  altogether  by  the  former. 
Henry's  reforms  therefore  were  continued  until  1553,  when  on 
the  death  of  Edward,  Mary  Tudor  came  to  the  throne.  An 
ardent  Catholic,  the  new  Queen  devoted  all  her  efforts  to  re- 
estabUshing  in  England  the  Papal  power  so  opposed  by  her 
predecessors,  and  succeeded.  But  at  her  death,  all  her  work 
was  undone.  Elizabeth  became  Queen  in  1558.  Whether  from 
policy  or  conviction,  she  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  her  father. 
By  the  Acts  of  Supremacy  and  Uniformity  CathoHc  influence 
in  England  was  again  shattered,  and  the  AngHcan  Church  firmly 
re-established. 

Religious  conflict  is  frequently  the  mother  of  fanaticism,  but 
often  it  fosters  indifference  as  well.  Enthusiasts  rally  most 
loyally  about  the  flag  of  their  faith,  when  it  is  most  threatened. 
Yet  sometimes  the  quarrels  and  struggles  of  the  different  faiths 
leave  men  faithless.  Further,  a  generation  of  reform,  is  a  gen- 
eration of  stress  and  strain.  In  an  age  of  transition,  men  find  it 
difficult  to  maintain  their  equilibrium.  Either  they  blindly  re- 
fuse to  countenance  all  change,  or  they  welcome  the  new  and  be- 
come confused.  In  politics,  in  literature,  in  religion,  reform  is 
often  the  stepping  stone  to  anarchy,  for  men  are  imitative  beings, 
attracted  by  what  is  novel,  and  reveal  how  a  little  knowledge  is 
a  dangerous  thing." 


14  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 

Christopher  Marlowe  was  born  in  1564,  and  was  but  twenty- 
nine  years  of  age  when  slain  in  a  drunken  brawl  by  Francis 
Archer,  June  i,  1593.  The  end  of  the  man  tells  us  something 
of  his  life.  A  genius  of  remarkable  caliber,  exhibiting  astonish- 
ing ability  while  still  a  child,  producing  the  first  English  tragedy 
worthy  the  name  before  he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  creating  and 
perfecting  one  of  the  finest  yet  most  difificult  forms  of  poetic 
expression,  blank  verse,  and  reaching  a  maturity  of  fame  at  an 
age  when  most  men  of  talent  are  beginning  to  acquire  it,  Mar- 
lowe at  the  same  time  was  a  free  lance,  careless  o^  tradition, 
indififerent  to  social  restraints  and  public  opinion,  doing  what- 
ever his  own  sweet  will  suggested,  •  and  perhaps  like  Burns, 
and  Byron,  and  Shelley  and  Keats,  and  Poe  and  Andrea  del 
Sarto,  believing  that  the  ten  talent  man  is  entitled  to  privileges 
that  one  talent  men  are  denied,  and  must  not  be  judged  by  the 
same  standard.  For  propriety,  Marlowe  cared  nothing.  To  the 
voice  of  authority,  he  gave  no  heed.  About  his  reputation,  he 
experienced  not  the  slightest  worry.  For  religion,  he  had  abso- 
lutely no  care.  He  had  no  hesitancy  in  voicing  his  atheism. 
Moses,  he  called  a  juggler.  Christianity  he  said  deserved  death 
more  than  did  Barabas.  He  himself  could  manufacture  a  better 
religion  than  that  he  saw  about  him. 

Sometimes  a  man  who  has  outgrown  religious  influence  is 
liberal,  tolerant,  impartial.  Sometimes  he  beco-mes  as  bigoted 
and  dogmatic  as  those  from  whose  ranks  he  has  stepped,  and 
whom  he  continually  denounces.  Marlowe  was  intolerant, 
but  he  does  not  seem  to  have  discriminated  in  his  hatred.  Cath- 
olic, Protestant,  Jew,  all  alike  were  denounced  by  him. 

The  Jew  of  Malta  "  was  written  about  1589  or  1 590,  but  a  few 
years  before  Marlowe's  death,  at  a  time  when  his  genius  was  in 
flower.  Yet  its  plot  is  the  most  outrageous  imaginable  and  its 
characters  are  the  most  impossible.  It  is  as  though  Marlowe 
raked  the  dregs  and  ransacked  the  dunghills  of  humanity,  to 


1 . 

Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction  15 

justify  the  melodrama  of  his  hero's  cursing  end,"  says  Symonds. 
(Shakespeare's  Predecessors  in  the  EngHsh  Drama).  Of  all  the 
Jews  of  whom  literature  speaks,  Barabas  is  the  worst.  His  only 
virtue  is  that  he  loves  his  daughter,  and  even  that  love  becomes 
at  times  questionable.  Otherwise  he  is  fiend  incarnate,  with 
nothing  human  about  him,  and  nothing  Jewish.  Yet  Marlowe 
wrote  him  down  as  a  Jew,  gave  him  to  the  world  as  such,  and  the 
world  took  Marlowe  at  his  word.  How  came  a  man  mentally 
so  keen,  poetically  so  able,  so  free  from  the  bias  induced  by  fanat- 
ical or  enthusiastic  denominationalism,  to  paint  such  a  false 
picture  of  the  Jew? 

Brandes  suggests  that  the  exaggeration  is  the  result  of  Mar- 
lowe's determination  to  have  one  figure  predominate  in  his  work, 
a  fact  noticeable  in  his  other  plays.  Symonds  offers  two  sug- 
gestions. The  unrelieved  cruelty  of  the  play  encourages  a  be- 
lief that  Marlowe  dramatised  it  from  some  Spanish  source."  Or 

It  must  have  been  hurried  by  stage  necessities  and  the  press 
of  time."  That  Marlowe  was  pandering  to  public  prejudice  is 
scarcely  to  be  credited.  Such  a  charge  would  hardly  be  brought 
against  a  man  to  whom  popular  estimates  meant  nothing.  The 
play  was  extremely  popular.  Heywood,  writing  in  1633,  speaks 
of  it  as  having  been 

Written  many  years  agone 

And  in  that  age  thought  second  to  none," 

but  it  is  extremely  questionable  whether  Marlowe  wrote  merely 
to  please.  One  further  explanation  remains.  Marlowe  de- 
scribed the  Jew  as  he  believed  him  to  be.  The  caricature  is 
the  product  rather  of  ignorance  than  of  malice. 

When  Marlowe  lived,  the  Jew  was  but  little  known  in  Eng- 
land. Banished  in  1290,  almost  four  centuries  passed  before 
Menasseh  ben  Israel  sought  for  his  people  legal  readmission. 
It  is  now  historically  certain  that  during  that  time  a  few  Jews 
lived  in  London.    But  having  no  right  to  enter  or  remain 


i6  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 

in  England,  living  without  privilege  or  recognition,  and  finding 
safety  but  in  hiding  their  identity,  what  could  Marlowe  or  any 
one  else  in  the  land  of  Elizabeth  know  of  them?  The  Queen 
spent  her  life  in  uprooting  Catholicism.  But  in  England  Juda- 
ism had  been  uprooted  long  ago.  The  people  knew  absolutely 
nothing  of  the  Jew  at  first  hand.  They  knew  him  merely  by 
hearsay.  What  they  heard  of  him  they  believed,  and  they  passed 
on  their  estimates,  as  if  they  were  authoritative.  In  the  process, 
the  Jew's  villainy  assumed  enormous  proportions.  But  in  those 
days  the  imaginations  of  men  were  vivid,  and  their  credulity  in 
inverse  ratio  to  their  knowledge.  In  lands  where  the  Jew  was 
permitted  to  live,  and  where,  though  locked  up  within  the 
ghetto,  men  had  an  opportunity  of  studying  him  and  knowing 
him,  he  was  believed  possessed  of  no  virtue  and  every  vice.  In 
England,  where  he  was  not  tolerated  and  where  he  was  almost 
as  unknown  as  unsung,  this  belief  simply  became  more  intense. 
The  hatred  of  Dr.  Lopez  and  his  execution  may  have  con- 
tributed to  this  belief.  So  did  the  conception  of  the  Jew  in  the 
early  English  ballads  and  in  Chaucer.  The  Jew  was  humanity's 
scapegoat,    only  that  and  nothing  more/' 

The  theory  has  been  advanced  that  Marlowe  did  not  write  the 
last  part  of  the  play.  Be  the  theory  true  or  false,  Marlowe  evi- 
dently shared  in  many  of  the  dominant  ideas  of  his  day.  His 
knowledge  of  the  Jew  was  that  of  the  people  about  him.  When 
he  denounced  and  criticised  and  satirized  his  countrymen,  he 
spoke  and  wrote  of  what  he  knew.  When  he  painted  the  Jew 
in  hateful  colors,  he  drew  on  his  imagination.  Knowledge  may 
be  parent  of  criticism.    But  prejudice  is  often  child  of  ignorance. 

II.  Suggestions. 
I.  The  decree  banishing  the  Jews  from  Spain,  banished  them 
as  well  from  all  of  Spain's  possessions.    Hence  there  were  no 
Jews  in  Malta  when  Marlowe's  play  appeared. 


Jewish  Ciiakacters  in 


Fiction 


17 


2.  The  play  at  once  won  popular  favor.  Marlowe  was  inde- 
pendent and  original.  Yet  he  scarcely  created  his  Jew.  He 
fashioned  him  of  the  ideas  then  prevailing. 

3.  Gosse  (Modern  English  Literature)  calls  Marlowe  ''a  pion- 
eer who  cried  in  the  wilderness  of  literature."  He  was  pioneer 
not  in  his  conception  of  the  Jew,  nor  in  giving  that  conception 
literary  expression,  but  in  using  it  in  dramatic  fiction. 

4.  To  determine  the  source  whence  Barabas  was  drawn,  it  has 
been  suggested  that  Marlowe  drew  upon  the  traditions  of  the 
Miracle  Plays. 

5.  Draper  in  his  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe  paints 
a  rather  gloomy  picture  of  the  intellectual  condition  of  Europe 
during  the  sixteenth  century.  Only  such  a  condition  could 
beget  a  Barabas.  Liberal  and  enlightened  as  is  England  to-day, 
it  is  dif^icult  for  us  to  conceive  the  narrow  and  intolerant  attitude 
it  adopted  toward  the  Jews  in  earlier  years. 

6.  "Has  he  crucified  a  child?"  (Jacomo  to  Bernardine,  con- 
cerning Barabas,  Act  HI).  One  of  the  charges  frequently 
brought  against  the  Jew. 

7.  Marlowe  means  to  suggest  that  all  Jews  were  usurers. 
The  truth  is  some  Jews  were — and  some  Christians.  St.  Bern- 
ard writing  in  1146.  "  I  keep  silence  on  the  point  that  we  regret 
to  see  Christian  usurers.  Jewing  worse  than  the  Jews,  if  indeed 
it  is  fit  to  call  them  Christians  and  not  baptized  Jews."  (Jacob's 
"  Jews  of  Angevin  England,"  22).  For  his  usury  the  Jew  had 
an  explanation,  though  perhaps  not  an  excuse.  He  was  shut  out 
from  well  nigh  every  trade  at  which  an  honest  living  could  be 
made.  He  was  allowed  but  to  sell  old  clothes  and  lend  money, 
and  when  he  lent  it,  he  enjoyed  the  risk  of  never  having  it 
returned. 

8.  Barabas  is  exaggerated  and  untrue.  He  proves  Marlowe's 
attitude  toward  the  Jew.    But  Marlowe  was  not  partial  in  his 


i8 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


hatred.  He  had  as  much  contempt  for  Christianity  as  he  did 
for  Judaism.  Indeed  we  are  told  that  only  his  death  saved  him 
from  prosecution  for  heresy  and  atheism. 

9.  Henry  Morley  (Enghsh  Writers,  10,  1 13-120)  incHnes  to 
the  theory  of  Kellner,  that  Barabas  was  suggested  by  the  career 
of  Joseph,  Duke  of  Naxos.    (See  Graetz,  IV,  S93-630). 

10.  Brandes,  the  great  Shakespearian  critic,  speaks  of  "  He- 
brew passionateness."  But  nothing  could  be  more  unlike  the 
real  Jew,  than  '  The  Jew  of  Malta.'  "  (Beaulieu,  Israel  among 
the  Nations,''  215).  The  Jew  does  not  often  display  passion. 
Centuries  of  persecution  have  made  him  endure  patiently.  He 
is  capable  of  righteous  and  fiery  indignation.  He  feels  it,  but  he 
restrains  it. 

11.  ''Marlowe's  work  is  characterized  by  the  love  of  the 
impossible."  Symonds. 

HI.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

1.  How  could  Jews  live  in  England  after  they  were  ban- 
ished? 

2.  Do  you  know  anything  of  the  Jews  of  Malta? 

3.  Where  did  Marlowe  gain  his  conception  of  the  Jew? 

4.  What  could  have  prompted  him  to  paint  Barabas  in  such 
atrocious  colors? 

5.  Briefly  describe  the  state  of  England  during  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth. 

6.  What  were  the  ''Miracle  Plays?" 

7.  What  was  the  "Ritual  Murder"  charge? 

8.  To  what  trades  was  the  Jew  of  the  Middle  Ages  limited? 

9.  Why  are  pawnbrokers,  second  hand  dealers,  clothiers,  and 
bankers  almost  exclusively  Jewish? 

10.  What  is  the  Jewish  attitude  toward  usury? 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


19 


II.  We  know  the  play  was  popular  when  first  it  appeared. 
We  are  told  that  Kean  produced  it  with  some  alterations  in 
1818,  and  that  it  was  well  received.    Can  you  explain  why? 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 

England  when  Marlowe  lived. 

Draper,     The  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe,"  II, 
229-252. 

Lee,     Elizabethan  England  and  the  Jews  "  in  Proceed- 
ings of  the  new  Shakespeare  Society.'* 
Wolf,    Middle  Ages  of  Anglo-Jewish  History  "  (Papers  of 
Anglo-Jewish  Historical  Exhibition). 
The  Jew  in  England  before  1290. 

Jacobs,    Jews  of  Angevin  England." 

Jewish  Ideals,  162-234. 
Rigg,     Select  Pleas,  Starrs  and  Other  Records." 
Blunt,    History  of  the  Jews  in  England." 
The  Jew  in  English  Literature  before  Marlowe. 

Mabon,     The  Jew  in  Enghsh  Poetry  and  Drama,"  Jewish 

Quarterly  Review,  XI,  411. 
M.  Kohler,     The  Jew  in  Pre-Shakespearian  Literature," 
''Jewish  Exponent,"  July  11,  1902. 
The  Jew  in  the  Sixteenth  Century. 

Graetz,  VI,  121  f. 
Ritual  Murder  Charges. 

Jacobs,  ''Jews  of  Angevin  England,"  19-21,  45-47,  75,  146- 
152,  256-258. 

Childs,  "  English  and  Scottish  Ballads,"  HI,  233-254. 
The  Jew  and  Usury. 

Jacobs,  XIII-XXII. 

Gross,  "  The  Exchequer  of  the  Jews  "  (Papers,  Anglo-Jew- 
ish Historical  Exhibition). 


20  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


Abrahams,  ''Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  103-237. 

Errera,  ''  The  Russian  Jew,"  130-135. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia,  Banking." 
Church  View  of  Usury. 

Jacobs,  16-18,  49-51,  63. 
The  Jew  and  Money. 

Waldstein,    Jewish  Question,"  265-302. 

Hosmer,    The  Jews,"  254-272. 
The  Miracle  Plays. 

Symonds,  ''  Shakespeare's   Predecessors  in  the  Englisli 
Drama,"  73-ii5- 

Malta. 

Britannica. 

Barr,     The  Unchanging  East,"  I,  79  f. 
Critical  Estimate  of    The  Jew  of  Malta." 

Symonds,  493-497- 
Marlowe's  Place  in  English  Literature. 

Symonds,  465-536. 

Brandes,    Shakespeare,  A  Critical  Study,"  27-33. 
Barabas. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia. 

Charles  Lamb,     Characters  of  Dramatic  Writers  Contem- 
porary with  Shakespeare." 

V.    Readings  tn  Ceass. 

Lazarus  (Emma),  "  The  Guardian  of  the  Red  Disk." 
Gordon,     Whose  Judgment  is  Justice  "  in  "  Strangers  at  the 
Gate." 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


21 


LESSON  II. 

I.    Required  Reading. 
''The  Merchant  of  Venice."    WiUiam  Shakespeare  (1564-1616). 

The  pioneer  blazes  the  way  for  those  who  foUow.  Yet  of 
those  who  fohow,  there  may  be  some  who  will  improve  on  the 
pioneer's  work.  William  Shakespeare  was  born  the  same  year 
as  Christopher  Marlowe,  but  the  latter  had  practically  completed 
his  work,  when  the  former  was  about  to  make  a  beginning. 
''  The  Jew  of  Malta  was  written  in  1589,  but  a  few  years  before 
its  author's  death.  Shakespeare,  passing  his  early  life  at  Strat- 
ford upon  Avon,  did  not  come  to  London  until  about  1585. 
Exactly  how  many  years  came  and  went  before  he  began  his 
literary  activity,  is  not  known.  But  genius  though  he  was,  and 
making  his  mark  at  an  early  age,  some  time  must  have  passed 
before  as  an  unknown  young  man,  a  stranger  in  a  strange  world, 
he  could  reach  a  position  where  he  could  exercise  aright  the 
talents  that  were  his,  and  win  the  attention  and  approval  he  de- 
served. However,  when  at  last  he  began  his  literary  work,  he 
began  it  under  the  spell  and  influence  of  his  predecessors.  Mar- 
lowe did  pioneer  work.  Indifference  and  independence  made 
him  nothing  if  not  thoroughly  original.  Shakespeare  had  no 
hesitancy  in  learning  from  those  who  had  gone  before,  and  in  the 
infancy  of  his  productive  years,  following  in  their  footsteps. 
Sometimes  he  imitated  their  methods.  Sometimes  he  re-em- 
ployed their  material.  Yet  such  genius  was  his,  such  a  creative 
touch,  such  dramatic  skill,  that  what  left  his  pen,  not  merely  had 
the  stamp  of  originality,  but  proved  him  possessed  of  a  literary 
ability  markedly  superior  to  that  of  his  teachers.  After  all, 
originality  means  more  than  saying  something  new.  It  means 
saying  something  old  in  a  new  way,  shedding  new  light  on 


22 


The  Citautauoua  System  of  Education 


some  old  situation,  finding  new  interpretations  for  old  truths, 
new*  solutions  for  old  prol)lems,  fitting  old  jewels  into  new  set- 
tings, old  pictures  into  new  frames.  Shakespeare  had  a  genius 
for  such  originality.  His  may  not  have  been  real  pioneer  work. 
Others  went  before  him  to  show  him  the  way.  But  while  profit- 
ing by  their  guidance  he  so-on  outstripped  them,  improved  upon 
all  they  had  done,  and  brought  their  work  much  nearer  per- 
fection.   From  being  follower  he  became  leader. 

The  Aferchant  of  Venice  "  was  written  near  the  end  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  about  1597.  Its  chief  sources,  as  is  well  known, 
were  the  Gesta  Romanorum,"  and  the  story  of  "  Gianetto," 
in  the  collection  called  II  Pecorone  "  by  Giovanni  Florentino, 
(^55^)-  rcrhai)s  ''  The  Orator  "  by  Alexancler  Silvayn  (1596) 
was  also  not  without  some  influence,  for  its  ninety-fifth  decla- 
mation has  the  title,  "  Of  a  Jew  who  w^ould  for  his  debt  have  a 
pound  of  the  flesh  of  a  Christian." 

That  Shakespeare  owed  much  of  his  ''  Merchant  of  Venice  " 
to  ]\Iarlowe  is  questionable.  We  know  that  as  Symonds  puts 
it,  he  deigned  to  tread  in  Marlowe's  footsteps,  and  at  the  last 
completed  and  developed  to  the  utmost,  that  national ....  art 
which  Marlowe  drew  forth  from.  .  .  .darkness  and  anarchy."  It 
is  even  said  that  Marlowe  had  a  hand  in  the  first  rough  draughts 
of  "  Henry  VI  "  and  ''  Edward  HI,"  while  Brandes  points  out 
the  fact  that  Marlowe  is  distinctly  referred  to  in  ''As  You  Like 
It,"  (Act  HI,  scene  5).  At  any  rate,  it  is  easy  to  prove  that 
Shakespeare  was  influenced  by  his  immediate  predecessor  and 
contemporary.  But  much  of  that  influence  in  ''  The  Merchant 
of  Venice  "  is  not  easily  discernible.  Marlowe  speaks  of  the 
Jew;  so  does  Shakespeare.  But  Barabas  and  Shylock  bear  each 
other  little  resemblance.  Both  are  usurers,  both  have  a  daugh- 
ter in  love  with  a  Christian,  both  love  their  daughters  and  both 
yearn  for  revenge.  But  there  the  resemblance  ceases.  Beyond 
this  point,  the  characters  are  merely  contrasts.    Barabas  is 


Jew  ish  Ciiarac  t1':ks  in  Fiction 


inhuman,  Shylock  human;  Barabas  unnatural,  Shylock  natural; 
Barabas  a  brute,  Shylock  a  man. 

I   For  a  long  time  Shylock  was  looked  upon  as  merely  a  funny 


speare  shared  in  the  prejudices  of  his  day,  and  drew  Shylock 
to  voice  his  own  sentiment,  or  gain  for  his  play  the  favor  of  the 
masses.  The  manner  in  which  the  character  was  portrayed 
upon  the  stage,  was  largely  responsible  for  this  view.  To-day 
the  opinion  is  gaining  ground,  that  Shylock  is  not  an  attack  up- 
on the  Jew,  but  a  defence,  a  justification,  a  vindication.  That 
there  is  much  to  support  this  new  opinion,  may  be  readily  grant- 
ed. Shylock  has  his  faults.  But  he  is  at  least  the  strongest  Jew 
English  Literature  up  to  the  seventeenth  century  can  show. 
He  has  much  about  him  we  do  not  admire,  but  he  is  natural, 
reasonable,  human. 

That  these  characteristics  make  Shylock  therefore  representa- 
tively Jewish  is  not  so  clear.  Brandes  calls  him  a  tragic  sym- 
bol of  the  degradation  and  vengefulness  of  an  oppressed  race," 
"  a  real  man  and  a  real  Jew,"  compared  to  whom  Barabas  is 
only  "  an  intolerable  demon  in  a  Jew's  skin,"  "  fit  only  for  a 
fairy  tale  or  a  mad  house  ";  and  he  argues  his  Jewish  character 
from  "  his  references  to  the  Old  Testament,  his  insistence  upon 
the  letter  of  the  law,  his  reliance  upon  statutory  rights  (the  only 
rights  granted  him),  the  restriction  of  his  moral  ideas  to  the 
principles  of  retribution,  his  Flebrew  passionateness,  his  loath- 
ing of  idleness,  his  logic,  and  his  cold  reasoning."  I  do  not  ques- 
tion that  there  is  something  Jewish  about  Shylock.  I  grant  that 
there  is  something  peculiarly  Jewish  about  most  of  the  char- 
acteristics here  attributed  to  him.  But  while  I  hesitate  even  to 
question  when  the  greatest  of  living  Shakespearian  critics  speaks, 
I  believe  that  it  takes  more  than  some  Jewisli  characteristics  and 
many  vices  not  distinctively  Jewish,  to  make  a  man  a  Jew.  I  be- 
lieve Shylock  to  be  an  improvement,  a  vast  improvement  on 


It  was  supposed  that  Shake-  \ 


24 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


Barabas.  He  is  more  human  and  more  natural,  and  therefore 
more  Jewish;  because  the  Jew  is  human  and  natural.  But  in 
the  Jew,  there  is  something  additional  to  all  of  this,  and  that 
something  Shylock  possesses  to  too  small  a  degree.  We  may 
pity  him  where  we  cannot  admire.  We  may  rejoice  in  him  as 
a  distinct  advance  in  the  world's  estimate  of  the  Jew,  but  we 
cannot  consider  him  a  symbol  of  the  degradation  and  venge- 
fulness  of  an  oppressed  race/'  a  real  Jew,"  or  a  type  of  that 
people  who-  suffered  much  and  sorrowed  much,  but  who  seldom 
retaliated,  who  despite  their  anguish  and  misery,  stood  by  the 
flag  of  their  faith  thoug'h  death  was  their  reward.  Shakespeare 
knew  more  of  the  Jew  than  did  Marlowe,  but  there  was  much 
too,  that  he  did  not  know. 

Marlowe  and  Shakespeare  were  born  in  the  same  year,  lived 
in  the  same  England,  breathed  the  same  political  atmosphere, 
and  were  exposed  to  the  same  religious  prejudices.  Both  lived 
at  a  time  when  the  Jew^  was  not  allowed  to  live  in  England.  Yet 
to  the  o-ne  the  Jew  is  Barabas,  to  the  other  he  is  Shylock.  What 
explanation  suggests  itself? 

Of  course  men  often  see  the  same  thing  with  different  eyes. 
But  since  the  Jew  was  but  little  known  in  London  until  the  17th 
century,  and  since  if  he  lived  there  during  the  preceding  century, 
he  did  so  secretly,  and,  without  disclosing  his  identity  or  seeking, 
recognition,  he  could  have  been  a  familiar  figure  neither  to  Mar- 
lowe nor  to  wShakespeare.  Perhaps  men  yield  differently  to 
the  prejudices  of  their  day.  Marlowe  however,  whO'  was  the 
more  indifferent  to  public  sentiment,  paints  the  blacker  Jew. 
To  explain  the  difficulty,  Brandes  suggests  that  Shakespeare 
visited  Italy  and  so  Venice  during  the  years  1 592-1 593,  when 
due  to  the  plague,  the  theatres  were  closed  in  London.  In  those 
days  Venice  was  the  Paris  of  Europe.  Thither  journeyed  those 
who  were  interested  in  the  best  of  art.  Especially  did  many 
go-  from  England,  and  it  is  probable  that  of  these  Shakespeare 
was  one. 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


25 


If  so,  we  can  readily  understand  his  intimate  acquaintance 
with  Italy  and  his  rather  remarkable  knowledge  of  the  Jew. 
For  while  the  Jew  was  barred  from  England,  Venice  had  a  large 
Jewish  colony.  Of  course  a  brief  sojourn  (and  at  best  Shake- 
speare's suggested  trip  could  have  been  no  more),  will  hardly 
gain  one  an  insight  into  the  inner,  hence  the  real  life  of  a 
people.  At  most  one  sees  but  externals,  and  uses  them  as  a 
basis  for  inference.  Shakespeare  may  have  seen  the  Jews  in 
Venice.  Still  the  Jew  is  not  to  him  an  open  book,  but  a  well 
with  unfathomed  depths.  Shylock  is  as  high  above  Barabas 
as  are  the  heavens  above  the  earth,  but  he  is  not  the  Jew. 

II.  Suggestions. 

1.  Though  born  in  the  same  year,  Shakespeare  was  influenced 
by  Marlowe. 

2.  Yet  Barabas  and  Shylock  have  little  in  common,  "  The  one 
is  a  rough  draught ;  the  other  a  finished  portrait/'  Symonds. 

3.  In  his  life  of  Sixtus  V,  Gregorio  Letti  tells  us  that  in  1587, 
Simone  Cenade,  a  Jew  living  in  Rome,  wagered  Paul  Maria 
Sechi,  a  Christian,  a  pound  of  flesh  against  1000  scudi,  that  the 
report  that  Sir  Francis  Drake,  the  English  admiral,  had  con- 
quered San  Domingo,  was  not  true.  When  the  report  was  veri- 
fied, Sechi  demanded  the  flesh.  The  Jew  was  saved  through 
the  intervention  of  the  governor  of  Rome.  A  similar  version 
of  the  pound  of  flesh  idea,  was  current  in  England  before  the 
time  of  Shakespeare,  wherefore  the  claim  has  been  made,  that 
he  purposely  inverted  the  story,  either  because,  in  a  day  when 
the  Jew  was  hated,  the  original  version  would  not  have  proved 
acceptable  to  the  masses,  or  because  he  himself  was  prejudiced. 
The  claim  has  little  to  support  it. 

4.  Shylock  is  meant  to  be  not  a  condemnation  of  the  Jew, 
but  a  defence.    Why  the  defence  is  not  clearer,  more  direct,  and 


26 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


freer  from  mistake,  is  a  question  that  does  not  lend  itself  to 
ready  and  simple  answer.  Scott  says  he  could  not  marry  Re- 
becca to  Ivanhoe,  because  the  prejudices  of  his  day  would  neither 
have  permitted  nor  approved  the  union.  Did  Shakespeare  con- 
sciously refrain  from  making  Shy  lock  better,  stronger,  and  more 
humane? 

5.  Legally  Shylock  is  in  the  right.  "  The  trial  is  an  utter 
travesty  011  justice."  Lounsberry. 

6.  Shylock  offers  a  defense  of  the  Jew  that  is  unanswerable. 

7.  He  too  loves  his  daughter  and  his  home  and  reveres  the 
memory  of  his  wife. 

8.  Revenge  is  not  a  Jewish  longing.  It  may  be  human  nature 
to  try  to  retaliate  for  wrongs  done.  From  beginning  to  end 
Shakespeare  apparently  tries  to  justify  the  position  of  Shylo-ck. 
But  Jewish  thought  sums  itself  up  here  in  the  words  of  Deuter- 
onomy. '  Vengeance  is  mine,'  saith  the  Lord."  Jewish  law 
may  have  voiced  the  law  of  retaliation,  but  Jewish  law  as  well 
forbade  its  literal  application.  Li  the  case  at  hand,  it  would  have 
compelled  Shakespeare  to  cho-ose  between  money  payment  and 
nothing.  The  idea  of  taking  the  pound  of  flesh  would  not  have 
been  countenanced. 

9.  The  right  to  take  payment  in  the  flesh  of  the  insolvent 
debtor  was  admitted  in  the  Twelve  Tables  of  ancient  Rome, 
and  was  quite  international.  Shakespeare  simply  transferred  it 
from  an  old  semi-barbarous  time  to  the  Venice  of  his  day." 
Brandes. 

10.  The  Inquisition  all  over  again.  But  then  the  Jew  clung  to 
his  faith.    Shylock  deserts  it.    That  is  not  Jewish. 

11.  Shylock  has  been  identified  with  Roderigo  Lopez,  physi- 
cian of  Elizabeth. 

12.  It  is  an  illustration  of  the  irony  of  history,  that  when  in 
1 571  the  Venetian  Senate  determined  to  expel  all  the  Jews,  it 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


27 


based  its  hope  of  securing  peace  from  Turkey  (into  whose  hands 
the  island  soon  fell),  on  an  influential  Jew. 

13.  It  has  been  said  that  at  least  5000  Jews  were  living  in 
Venice  at  the  time  of  Shakespeare.  A  single  illustration  will 
suffice  to  show  that  their  peace  and 'safety  were  none  too  secure. 
Nicolas  Antoine  (1602-1632),  a  Catholic,  wished  to  embrace 
Judaism.  The  Rabbis  of  Metz  fearing  to  grant  his  request,  sent 
him  to  Venice,  where  he  met  the  same  unsatisfactory  reception. 
The  conversion  involved  too  much  danger  for  all  concerned. 

14.  Shylock  is  a  wealthy  merchant.  Most  of  the  merchants 
of  the  Levant  were  Jews.  While  hated,  they  still  exerted  much 
influence. 

.15.  In  1 701  Lord  Landsdowne  published  an  altered  version 
of  the  play  under  the  title  The  Jew  of  Venice,"  but  in  the 
change,  Shylock  loses  in  strength  and  vitality.  In  the  one  he 
is  powerful  in  his  hatred.  In  the  other  he  becomes  merely  mean 
and  contemptible. 

16.  Despite  the  prejudice  against  him,  the  Jew  during  the 
Middle  Ages  could  count  many  Christian  friends. 

III.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

1.  What  does  Greene  mean  when  he  says  Marlowe's  Jew  of 
Malta  was  the  herald  of  Shylock?"  (History  of  England,  II, 
474.) 

2.  Compare  Barabas  and  Shylock. 

3.  What  gives  color  to  the  claim  that  Shakespeare  visited 
Italy? 

4.  Did  Shakespeare  purposely  invert  the  original  pound  of 
flesh  story? 

5.  Prove  that  Shylock  is  not  an  attack  upon,  but  a  defense  of 
the  Jew. 

6.  Wherein  lies  the  injustice  of  the  trial? 


28 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


7.  What  is  the  Jewish  attitude  toward  revenge? 

8.  Who  was  Roderigo  Lopez? 

9.  What  do  you  know  of  the  Jews  of  Venice? 

10.  Why  did  Anto-nio  borrow  money  from  a  "  hated  Jew"? 

11.  Compare  Shylock  and  Antonio. 

12.  What  do  you  think  of  Jessica? 

13.  Has  Shylock  helped  or  hurt  the  Jewish  cause? 

14.  What  is  meant  by  the  Exchequer  of  the  Jews?  (Graetz, 

in,  588). 

15.  Sum  up  Shylock's  defense  of  the  Jew. 

16.  What  is  Jewish  about  Shylock? 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 

England  in  the  Sixteenth  Century. 

Thornbury     Shakespeare's  England." 
Winter,     Shakespeare's  England." 
Brandes,  242-250. 

Guizot,  ''Shakespeare  and  His  Times,"  i-i57« 
London,  1485-1603. 

Besant,     London,"  263-371. 
The  Drama  in  Shakespeare's  Time. 

Symonds,     Shakespeare's  Predecessors,"  18-73. 
The  Theatre  in  Shakespeare's  Time. 

Symond's,  212-253. 

Brandes,  98-112. 
The  Jews  in  Italy  in  the  Sixteenth  Century. 

Graetz,  IV,  650-675. 
fhe  Jews  in  Venice. 

Graetz,  IV,  600-601. 

Hosmer,     The  Story  of  the  Jews,"  204-208. 
Did  Shakespeare  visit  Italy? 

Brandes,  113-118. 
Shakespeare  and  the  Jews. 

Brandes,  164-168. 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


29 


Sources  of  the  Play. 

Guizot,  343-347- 
The  Original  of  Shylock. 

Lee,     Gentlemen's  Magazine/'  Feb.,  1880. 
Did  Shakespeare  know  any  Jews? 

Furness,  New  Variorum  Edition,  Appendix  to  Merchant 
of  Venice,"  395-399- 
Shylock  Legally  in  the  Right. 

Ibid,  403-420. 
Shylock  and  Barabas. 

Symonds,  519-524. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia,  Barabas." 
Shakespeare's  Originality. 

Symonds,     Shakespeare's  Predecessors." 

Brandes,  29-33. 
A  Jew's  Estimate  of  Shakespeare. 

Lee,    Life  of  Shakespeare." 

Brandes     Shakespeare.    A  Critical  Study." 

GoUanz,  Temple  Edition  of  Shakespeare. 
Other  Estimates. 

Bagehot,     Shakespeare  the  Man." 

Lowell,  ''Among  My  Books,"  151-227. 

Emerson,  "  Representative  Men." 
The  Merchant  of  Venice  "  and  "  The  Jew  of  Venice." 

Lounsberry,  ''  Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatic  Artist,"  328-338. 
The  Jew  in  Commerce. 

Abrahams,  "Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  211. 
The  Social  Position  of  the  Jew  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

Waldstein,  "  The  Jewish  Question,"  100-197. 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 
Whittier,  "  The  Two  Rabbins." 

Isaacs,  "  The  Rip  Van  Winkle  "  of  the  Talmud,"  from  "  Stories 
From  the  Rabbis." 


30  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


LESSON  III. 

1.    Required  Reading. 
''The  Duenna.''    Richard  Brinsley  Butler  Sheridan  (1751-1816). 

Shakespeare  died  in  1616.  "The  Merchant  of  Venice"  ap- 
peared about  1597.  "The  Duenna"  was  written  in  1775.  Be- 
twen  the  two  stretches  a  period  of  ahuost  two  centuries.  In  that 
time  of  course  the  world  saw  many  changes.  As  already  stated, 
when  Shakespeare  wrote,  but  few  Jews  could  have  lived  in  Eng- 
land. The  first  synagogue  in  London  was  built  in  1662.  Evi- 
dently by  that  time  their  number  had  increased,  but  we  know 
that  while  Cromwell  looked  with  kindly  eye  upon  them,  they  still 
labored  under  political  disabilities. 

Sheridan  and  Cumberland  both  wrote  during  the  second 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Still  the  Jew  was  discriminated 
against.  He  was  not  legally  recognized.  He  was  hardly  tol- 
erated. Yet  he  must  have  been  in  England  now  in  large  num- 
bers (else  the  "  Naturalization  Act  "  or  "  Emancipation  Bill " 
would  not  have  found  expression),  and  he  must  have  made  his 
presence  felt.  People  must  have  known  him,  and  have  known 
him  for  what  he  was.  Yet  he  was  discriminated  against  in  life 
and  caricatured  in  literature.  Sheridan  pictures  him  as  a  usurer, 
a  trickster,  a  schemer.  He  is  rather  a  light  than  a  heavy  villain, 
but  he  is  still  a  villain.  He  is  held  up  to  ridicule,  is  laughed  at, 
is  frowned  down  upon,  is  condemned.  He  has  not  the  redeem- 
ing features  of  a  Shylock. 

Of  course  Sheridan  wrote  to  entertain.  He  was  a  subtle  sat- 
irist, but  he  did  not  hesitate  to  listen  to  the  public  voice.  "  The 
Duenna  was  remarkably  successful.  Sheridan,  in  his  estimate 
of  the  Jew,  was  not  alone.  The  people  were  with  him,  those  who 
saw  the  play,  those  who  read  it,  and  those  who  did  neither. 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


31 


Sheridan  was  here  the  mouthpiece  of  the  masses.  He  gave 
their  sentiment  dramatic  expression,  and  became  the  hero  of 
the  hour.    He  had  calculated  well. 

Had  Marlowe  exerted  himself,  he  might  in  some  way  have 
learned  the  truth  about  the  Jew.  Shakespeare  lived  where  the 
Jew  was  almost  an  unknown  quantity.  Yet  something  of 
that  truth  became  his.  However,  in  those  days,  men  were  sel- 
dom willing  to  exert  themselves  to  become  acquainted  with  a 
people,  at  once  ostracised  and  hated.  The  Jew  was  for  them  an 
uninteresting  and  unprofitable  study.  Marlowe  might  have 
knov/n  better,  but  the  requisite  knowledge  was  not  easy  to 
secure. 

What  was  difficult  for  Marlowe,  however,  was  easy  for  Sher- 
idan, for  when  the  latter  lived,  the  Jew  was  in  London  in  goodly 
numbers.  But  quietly  as  he  returned,  so  quietly  did  he  for  a 
time  continue  to  live.  Gradually  he  gained  confidence.  He  was 
denied  much  that  he  deserved.  But  at  least  he  could  now  live 
his  faith  openly,  and  he  did. 

Superficial  observers  are  accustomed  to  insisting  that  preju- 
dice is  the  result  of  ignorance.  It  is,  but  not  always.  Other 
causes  contribute  to  its  being.  Sometimes  men  know  the  Jew 
and  yet  disKke  him. 

Marlowe  drew  his  Barabas  because  he  knew  no  better.  He 
could  not  know  better.  It  is  almost  certain  that  he  never  saw 
a  Jew.  He  laughed  the  weaknesses,  the  faults,  the  prejudices, 
even  the  virtues  of  his  countrymen  to  scorn.  Nevertheless  he 
took  the  commonly  accepted  opinion  of  the  Jew  for  granted,  and 
repeated  it  in  dramatic  form  as  though  it  were  true.  We  may 
criticise  that  dramatic  expression  and  prove  that  Barabas  is 
false.  To  what  degree  can  we  criticise  Marlowe?  The  old 
Romans  used  to  say  "  Ignorantia  legis  non  excusat;"  "Ignor- 
ance of  the  law  is  no  excuse,''  a  sentiment  fundamental  to  Anglo- 
Saxon  law  likewise.   Yet  we  look  more  leniently  on  wrong  done 


32 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


through  lack  of  knowledge,  than  on  crimes  committed  with 
knowledge  and  foresight.  We  relieve  a  child  from  responsibili- 
ty for  a  deed  for  which  a  man  would  be  severely  punished. 

Had  Sheridan  cared  to  know  the  Jew  he  maligned  and  cari- 
catured, he  would  not,  like  Shakespeare,  have  had  to  journey 
to  Italy.  A  few  steps,  a  little  patient  study,  would  have  brought 
him  all  the  information  he  desired.  He  might  have  had  it  for 
the  asking.  But  about  an  honest  picture  of  the  Jew  there  would 
have  been  nothing  funny,  and  Sheridan  delighted  in  caricature. 
And  to  tell  the  truth,  that  honest  picture  would  scarcely  have 
proven  acceptable  to  the  masses.  Addison  might  speak  a  brave 
word  in  behalf  of  the  Jew,  but  Addison  was  writing  no  play 
depending  for  its  success  on  the  favor  of  the  theatre-going  pub- 
lic. The  Englishman  of  the  eighteenth  century  lived  next  door 
to  the  Jew,  but  that  Jew  still  remained  to  him  a  stranger. 

Sheridan  satirized  the  faults  of  his  day,  ridiculed  them,  and 
so  no  doubt  helped  those  to  whom  he  addressed  himself.  But 
his  caricature  of  the  Jew  helped  neither  truth  nor  justice.  It 
succeeded  in  making  men  laugh,  but  it  succeeded  as  well  in  per- 
petuating iniquitous  and  vicious  falsehoods,  and  in  delaying  the 
day  when  the  Jew  would  come  into  his  own. 

II.  Suggestions. 

I.  As  the  Jews  re-entered  England  without  legal  recognition, 
they  remained  without  it  for  almost  two  centuries.  During  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  liberal  movements  were 
stirring  people  everywhere.  It  was  the  time  of  Mendelssohn 
(1728-1786),  of  Lessing  (1729-1781,  Nathan  the  Wise  "  appeared 
in  1778),  of  Mirabeau  (1749-1791).  Montesquieu  died  in  1755. 
Remember  his  Spirit  of  the  Laws."  These  were  champions  of 
Israel.  England  too  had  its  champions  of  reform  and  emanci- 
pation, but  the  country  as  a  whole  remained  orthodox  and  con- 
servative.   So  the  Jew  continued  to  labor  under  disadvantages. 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


33 


Persecution  is  the  product  of  orthodoxy.  Tolerance  is  the 
child  of  liberalism. 

2.  In  1753,  the  Pelhams  in  England  asked  Parliament  to  pass 
a  special  bill  permitting  such  Jews  as  applied,  to  be  naturalized 
without  taking  the  sacrament,  as  the  law  demanded.  The  bill 
was  passed.  But  such  a  hue  and  cry  arose  that  it  had  to  be 
repealed  the  next  year.    Public  sentiment  was  not  tolerant. 

There  is  no  page  in  the  history  of  the  eighteenth  century  that 
shows  more  decisively  how  low  was  the  intellectual  and  political 
condition  of  English  public  opinion,''  Lecky.  The  opposition 
to  the  passage  of  the  bill  is  well  described  in  Maria  Edgeworth's 
"  Harrington." 

3.  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  Joseph  Addison  (1672-1719), 
who  did  much  to  mold  public  opinion  in  his  day,  looked  with 
liberal  eye  upon  the  Jews.  He  speaks,  too,  of  the  Jew  in  com- 
merce, but  he  speaks  intelligently.  The  Jew  finds  in  literature 
no  such  liberal  treatment  for  almost  another  century. 

4.  Note  that  during  the  eighteenth  century  in  England,  the 
Catholics  were  even  more  disliked  than  the  Jews.  The  same 
thing  is  still  true. 

5.  Beaulieu  quotes  with  evident  approval  the  statement  of 
Em.  Faquet,  that  the  eighteenth  century  was  neither  Chris- 
tian nor  French.''  (cf.  Israel  Among  the  Nations,"  54).  Nor 
was  it  English. 

6.  The  Duenna  "  appeared  in  1775,  and  was  an  instantaneous 
success.  It  was  even  much  more  popular  than  Gay's  "  The 
Beggar's  Opera,"  considered  during  the  eighteenth  century  the 
best  Enghsh  opera.  Brander  Matthews  considers  it  the  pre- 
decessor of  Pirafore." 

7.  In  The  School  for  Scandal "  we  also  meet  a  Jewish  char- 
acter, a  Mr.  Moses,  a  money-lender.  Mendoza  is  by  no  means 
a  strong  character.    Moses  is  even  weaker. 


34  The  Chautauqua  System  oe  Education 


8.  Mendoza  is  spoken  of  as  a  Portuguese  Jew,  who  stands 
like  a  dead  wall  between  church  and  synagogue,  or  like  the  blank 
leaves  between  the  Old  and  New  Testament."  The  expression 
is  one  of  Sheridan's  best.  The  meaning  is  clear.  Mendoza 
had  left  Judaism,  but  was  not  yet  a  good  Christian.  The  history 
of  the  Jew  in  Portugal  is  interesting.  He  was  exiled  in  1497, 
and  not  readmitted  until  1821.  The  choice,  Mohammed's  se- 
verest alternative,  was  The  Koran  or  the  Sword."  The  In- 
quisition's milder  alternative  was  Christianity  or  Exile."  Most 
of  the  Jews  chose  exile,  when  they  dared.  Some  few  became 
converts.  Many  who  lived  in  Portugal  and  Spain  after  the 
decree  had  been  issued,  remained  as  Marranos,  surface  or  lip 
Christians,  but  heart  Jews. 

10.  Many  sentiments  and  expressions  in  ''The  Duenna"  sug- 
gest ''  The  Merchant  of  Venice."  cf.  Act  IV.,  Scene  i  of  the 
latter,  with  Act  II.,  Scene  4,  and  Act  III.,  Scene  7,  of  the  former. 

11.  It  has  been  said  that  Sheridan  had  Cumberland  in  mind 
when  he  drew  the  character  of  Sir  Fretful  Plagiary  in  ''  The 
Critic."  It  was  not  unusual  for  dramatists  to  use  the  stage  for 
such  satirical  purposes. 

12.  It  is  indicative  of  the  character  of  the  English  stage  dur- 
ing the  eighteenth  century,  that  in  1755  a  number  o-f  the  plays 
then  being  produced  were  stopped  by  the  authorities,  lest  their 
immorality  bring  on  England  the  fate  which  befell  Lisbon  (the 
earthquake  of  1755).  In  1719,  one  Arthur  Bedford  wrote  a  book, 
in  which  he  said  the  dramatic  literature  of  his  day  offended 
against  1400  texts  in  the  Bible.  To  attain  success,  old  plays  had 
to  be  introduced  under  new  titles.  Thus  Lord  Landsdowne 
presented  "  The  Merchant  of  Venice  "  as    The  Jew  of  Venice." 

13.  Observe  that  while  Protestantism  was  the  child  of  Catholic 
persecution,  so  soon  as  it  came  intO'  power  it  became  the  father 
of  similar  persecution. 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


35 


III.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

1.  Trace  briefly  the  history  of  the  Jew  in  England  (a)  from 
1066  to  1290;  (b)  From  1660  till  the  dawn  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. 

2.  What  was  the  Emancipation  Bill?  Why  after  being  passed, 
was  it  repealed  ? 

3.  Why  is  the  Jew  oppressed  and  discriminated  against  in 
lands  where  Church  and  State  are  one,  and  treated  liberally 
where  no  State  religion  is  known?    How  about  England? 

4.  Was  the  status  of  the  Jew  in  England  in  the  eighteenth 
century  identical  with  that  of  the  Catholic?  Were  both  discrim- 
inated against  for  the  same  or  different  reasons? 

5.  When  and  why  were  the  Jews  exiled  from  Portugal?  Who 
were  the  Marranos? 

6.  Co-mpare     The  Duenna  "  with     The  Beggar's  Opera." 

7.  Compare  Mendoza  and  Moses. 

8.  Has  the  early  ill  repute  in  which  trade  was  held,  any  con- 
nection with  anti-Semitism? 

9.  Mendoza  is  frequently  humorous.  How  in  this  respect 
does  he  resemble  other  Jewish  characters  in  fiction? 

10.  What  does  Addison  mean  when  he  says  Jews  are  like 
pegs  and  nails  in  a  great  building,  which,  though  they  are  but 
little  valued  in  themselves,  are  absolutely  necessary  to  keep  the 
whole  frame  together?'' 

IV.  Recommended  Readings. 

Resettlement  of  Jews  in  England. 
Graetz,  V,  18-50. 

Lecky,    England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,"  I,  283. 
Green,     Short  History  of  the  English  People,"  590. 


36  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


Menasseh  b.  Israel. 

Magnus,  ''Jewish  Portraits/'  99-131. 

Wolf,  Menasseh  b.  Israel's  Mission  to  Oliver  Cromwell." 
The  Jew  in  England,  1750-1800. 

Picciotto,     Sketches  of  Anglo-Jewish  History,"  60-122. 
The  Naturalization  Bill  of  1753. 

Picciotto,  80-86. 

Graetz,  V,  336. 
The  Duenna. 

Ohphant,  "  Life  of  Sheridan.'' 
Comparison  with    The  Beggar's  Opera." 

Lecky,  I,  587. 

Harper's  Magazine,  VIII,  501-508. 
The  English  Stage  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. 

Lecky,  I,  583. 
Portugal  and  the  Jew. 

Graetz,  IV,  Index.  Portugal. 
Joseph  Addison. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia. 

The  Spectator,  495. 
The  Jew  in  Europe,  1758-1775  (when    The  Duenna  "  appeared). 

Graetz,  V,  291-392. 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 

Lessing,     Nathan  the  Wise  "  (Act  HI,  Scene  7). 
Auerbach,    Leather  Heart  "  (The  Good  Hour). 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


37 


LESSON  IV. 
L    Required  Reading. 
"The  Jew.''    Richard  Cumberland  (1731-1811). 

The  Jew  was  now  permitted  to  dwell  in  England,  but  unless 
native  born,  was  granted  no  citizenship.  Came  he  from  a  for- 
eign country,  he  had  no  legal  standing.  He  asked  that  this  dis- 
crimination be  removed.  As  we  have  seen,  in  1753  his  request 
was  granted,  and  then  almost  at  once  the  grant  was  revoked. 
Still  the  leaven  was  all  the  while  at  work.  The  new  Renaissance 
was  on,  or  rather  the  new  Revolution.  Oppression,  intolerance, 
discrimination  were  beginning  to  beget  their  natural  and  inevit-'-.. - 
able  results,  discontent  and  restlessness.  The  rumblings  were 
heard  all  over  Europe.  They  were  the  rumbHngs  of  a  long  - 
sleeping  volcano.  Men  were  waking  to  a  consciousness  of  their 
rights,  and  nerving  themselves  to  a  determination  to  demand 
them.  They  had  been  denied,  them  so  long,  that  compromise 
would  no  longer  be  efifective.  Promises  were  now  useless.  It 
was  a  question  of  the  government  yielding  voluntarily,  or  being 
compelled  to  yield.  In  France,  relying  on  its  ''divine  rights," 
royalty  refused  to  listen.    The  Revolution  was  the  result. 

Literature  is  the  expression  of  a  people's  Hfe.  But  literature 
is  often  the  source  of  a  people's  Hfe,  directing  the  current  of 
its  activity  into  certain  definite  channels.  So  while  all  France 
rose  to  win  the  fight  for  liberty,  the  victory  owed  no  little  to  the 
men  who,  intimately  acquainted  with  the  wrongs  the  people  were 
suffering,  pleaded  with  the  authorities  to  right  these  wrongs,  and 
then  finding  their  pleadings  of  no  avail,  turned  to  the  victims 
and  taught  them  to  strike  for  themselves.  The  soldier  may  win 
many  a  battle,  but  the  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword."  Rous- 
seau had  clamored  for    Liberty,  Equality  and  Fraternity."  Vol- 


38  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 

taire  and  Diderot  and  D'Alembert  and  Montesquieu  and 
Mirabeau,  helped  create  the  response  to  that  cry.  The  move- 
ment grew.  The  cry  was  taken  up,  here,  there  and  everywhere, 
and  it  was  heard. 

England,  conservative  as  it  was,  could  not  still  that  cry,  or  ren- 
der itself  immune  to  the  influence  of  the  new  movement.  Per- 
haps it  did  not  care  to  become  liberal,  but  it  could  not  help  it. 
Civilization  rides  rough  shod  over  those  who  would  stand  in  its 
path.  Progress  has  a  way  of  insinuating  itself  into  quarters 
where  it  knows  it  is  not  welcome.  Men  were  made  to  grow  and 
advance,  else  they  were  not  here.  The  watchword  of  life  is 
growth.    Stagnation  means  death. 

Of  course  the  French  Revolution  was  a  struggle  largely  politi- 
cal in  nature.  As  a  result  a  monarchy  became  a  republic.  But 
one  hundred  years  ago  church  and  state  were  still  one.  Religion 
and  politics  were  so  interwoven,  that  the  overthrow  of  the  one 
involved  that  of  the  other.  Three  hundred  years  before,  the 
struggle  resulting  in  the  birth  of  Protestantism,  promised  much 
to  the  cause  of  religious  freedom*  But  as  time  went  on  many  of 
the  blessings,  momentarily  resulting  from  the  victory,  were  Tost^ 
so  that  the  struggle  had  to  be  renewed.  Even  tO'-day  religious 
liberty  is  not  everywhere  a  fact.  The  raison  d'etre  of  the 
French  Revolution  was  a  yearning  for  political  right.  When 
it  was  brought  to  a  close,  men  enjoyed  more  of  religious  rights, 
than  they  had  ever  known. 

Now  the  Jew,  wherever  he  lived  (except  in  America),  was  de- 
nied both  political  and  religious  privilege ;  but  while,  as  in 
France,  the  masses  were  strong  enough  to  gain  the  recognition 
they  demanded,  the  Jew  had  neither  sufficient  strength  of  his 
own  nor  sympathy  of  others,  to  secure  his  demands  a  hearing. 
Nevertheless,  since  the  influences  that  gave  the  French  Revolu- 
tion impulse,  knew  no  geographical  limitations,  and  since  be- 
tween the  conditions  of  the  downtrodden  peasantry  and  his 


Jew  isi[  Characters  in  Fiction 


39 


own,  there  was  much  resemblance,  the  injustice  from  which 
he  suffered  could  not  long  remain  unnoticed.  Lessing  saw  it 
and  sought  to  remove  it  in  Germany.  Cumberland  saw  it  and 
did  what  he  could  to  bring  it  to  an  end  in  England. 

A  defence  of  an  unpopular  people  requires  courage.  Also 
it  is  not  apt  to  enjoy  immortality.  When  Cumberland  wrote, 
the  dawn  O'f  freedom  was  breaking  for  the  Jew  in  the  distance. 
But  there  were  few  who  dared  to  herald  it,  or  attempt  to  assist 
its  coming.  Cumberland  had  nothing  to  gain  by  writing  The 
Jew,"  but  the  denunciation  of  those  about  him,  and  the  Bravo  " 
of  his  own  conscience.  But  for  a  noble  soul,  that  is  sufificient. 
There  is  but  little  pleasure  in  antagonizing  men,  but  there  is 
less  pleasure  in  refusing  conscience  a  hearing.  If  we  can  have 
friends  only  as  we  obey  them  and  stultify  ourselves,  then  God 
save  us  from  our  friends." 

For  the  first  time  the  Jew  in  English  fiction  is  a  man,  call  him 
how  you  please,"  with  somewhat  exaggerated  virtues  it  is  true, 
but  with  virtues  it  may  be  necessarily  exaggerated.  The  rep- 
resentative Jew  it  is  true,  is  neither  Slieva  nor  Shylock,  not 
Barabas,  and  not  Mendoza.  While  Marlowe  and  Shakespeare 
and  Sheridan  gave  the  Jew  less  than  his  due,  Cumberland 
gave  him  more.  Neither  method  is  productive  of  exactness. 
But  Cumberland  taught  at  least  this  truth,  that  the  Jew  has  no 
monopoly  on  vice,  as  the  Christian  has  no  monopoly  on  virtue. 
He  has  his  faults,  but  he  has  his  good  quaHties  also.  He  is  not 
an  angel.  No  more  is  he  a  devil.  He  is  merely  a  man,  call 
him  how  you  please,"  but  he  is  that  at  least. 

H.  Suggestions. 

I.  Sheridan's  ''The  Duenna"  appeared  in  1775,  the  year  fol- 
lowing the  death  of  Louis  XV.  The  French  Revolution  prac- 
tically began  in  1789.  ''The  Jew"  was  written  in  1794,  while 
the  "  Reign  of  Terror  "  was  at  its  height.    The  revolution  was 


40 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


a  demand  of  the  downtrodden  for  better  treatment.  The  whole 
world  felt  the  upheaval.  Cumberland  may  well  have  been  moved 
by  the  spirit  that  created  that  demand  and  The  Jew  "  may  be 
his  expression  of  that  spirit. 

2.  The  hour  was  one  of  struggle  for  recognition  and  repre- 
sentation. 'Neath  it  all  the  Jewish  Question  could  not  lie  dor- 
mant. When  the  struggle  was  over,  the  Jew  too  would  share 
in  the  blessed  results. 

3.  In  a  direct  way,  the  nineteen  years  fro-m  the  appearance 
of  The  Duenna ''  to  that  of  "  The  Jew/'  brought  Israel  few  new 
privileges. 

4.  Sheva,  good  as  he  is,  is  still  a  money  lender.  Observe  that 
every  Jewish  character  in  fiction  thus  far  spoken  of,  has  the  same 
occupation. 

5.  Sheva  is  as  good  a  Jew  as  Barabas  is  a  villainous  one. 
Neither  is  therefore  representative. 

6.  To-day  Cumberland  is  but  little  known  and  his  Sheva  even 
less  so.  The  worst  Jewish  characters  in  fiction  are  the  best  re- 
membered, the  best  the  most  easily  forgotten. 

The  evil  tliat  men  do  lives  after  them, 
The  good  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones." 

7.  Cumberland  is  given  to  sentiment.  The  plots  of  many  of 
his  plays  have  striking  similarities.  Though  his  sentimentality 
is  often  wearisome,  his  morality  is  generally  sound."  He  is 
always  on  the  side  of  the  downtrodden  and  oppressed. 

III.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

I.  What  circumstances  may  have  been  responsible  for  so 
liberal  a  portrayal  of  the  Jew? 

^  2.  Sum  up  the  virtues  of  Sheva  and  see  if  the  average  Jew  pos- 
'  '^sesses  them. 


Jkwisii  Characters  in  Fiction 


41 


3.  What  qualities  enter  into  the  composition  of  the  average 
Jewish  character? 

4.  Compare  Sheva  and  Mendoza;  Sheva  and  Shylock. 

5.  Why  is  Shylock  better  known  than  Sheva? 

6.  What  does  Prof.  Ward  mean  by  saying  Cumberland  was 
possessed  of    theatrical  instinct,  though  not  of  dramatic  genius  "  ? 

7.  Did  Cumberland  help  the  Jewish  cause  and  how? 

8.  Was  Cumberland  alone  in  his  liberal  estimate  of  the  Jew? 

9.  What  progress  had  the  cause  of  the  Jew  made  since  the 
time  of    The  Duenna  "  ? 

10.  How  could  French  and  American  history  in  any  way 
have  affected  the  condition  of  the  Jews  in  England? 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 

The  readings  in  Lesson  III  will  be  serviceable  here. 

The  Jew  in  Europe,  1 791 -1794  (when  "  The  Jew  "  was  written). 

Graetz,  V,  428-452. 
The  French  Revolution  and  the  Emancipation  of  the  Jews. 

Graetz,  V,  429-474. 
Cumberland's  Attitude  toward  the  Jew. 

Memoirs. 

The  Jew  in  America  100  Years  Ago. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia. 
A  Critical  Estimate  of  Cumberland. 

Ward  in  Britannica. 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 
Kompert,  "  The  Ghetto  Violet." 

Browning,     Fillipo  Baldunecci  on  the  Privilege  of  Burial.'' 


42 


The  ChautxVuoua  System  of  Education 


LESSON  V. 

1.    Reouired  Reading. 
"  Ivanhoe."    Sir  Walter  Scott  (1771-1832). 

Cumberland's  The  Jew  "  appeared  when  the  French  Revo- 
lution was  at  its  height.  Before  another  score  of  years  had 
passed,  Napoleon  was  defeated  and  the  Revolution  w^as  over, 
but  it  had  not  been  fought  in  vain.  Later  years  proved  that. 
For  the  time  being,  however,  the  rapid  spread  of  Napoleonic 
ideas  was  checked.  In  181 5  the  Congress  of  Vienna  convened, 
reapportioned  Europe  among  the  Powers,  and  endeavored  to 
restore  conditions  to  their  pre-revolution  state.  If  the  revolu- 
tion stood  for  the  spread  of  liberal  ideas,  the  Congress  of  Vienna 
stood  for  the  restoration  of  conservatism.  But  the  world  lives 
by  growth  and  reform.  That  reform,  overestimating  its 
strength,  or  underestimating  the  force  of  opposition  to  be 
encountered,  or  in  its  zeal  losing  sight  of  its  real  purpose,  may 
overstep  its  limits,  become  radical,  and  running  for  a  time  wild, 
may  create  the  antagonism  that  will  call  it  to  a  halt.  Extremes 
usually  defeat  themselves.  But  real  reform  usually  regains  its 
equilibrium,  and  when  it  does,  nothing  can  permanently  hinder 
its  progress.  Conservatism  may  attempt  to  check  it  and  may 
temporarily  succeed.    But  victory  belongs  to  growth. 

Scott  wrote  his  Ivanhoe  "  while  the  reaction  against  Napoleon 
was  strongest.  The  book  appeared  in  1820.  Its  action  occurs 
during  the  last  years  of  the  twelfth  century.  It  is  not  easy  to 
forget  what  those  years  meant  to  the  Jew\  Remember  it  was 
the  time  of  the  Crusades.  The  Crusades  were  born  of  religious 
sentiment  curiously  rnixed  with  much  that  was  not  religious,  for 
hatred  is  foe  to  religion  and  belies  it.  Religious  enthusiasm  is 
always  attractive,  but  fanaticism,  while  it  may  achieve  tremen- 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


43 


(Ions  ends,  lacks  in  appeal  to  reason.  Religion  is  of  course  a 
matter. of  feeling,  but  it  is  more  than  that.  Disraeli  is  right  in 
believing  that  men  lacking  in  emotion  fail  of  large  influence. 
"  Mormon  counts  more  votaries  than  Bentham/'  But  the  faith 
that  is  not  anchored  to  reason  and  knowledge,  is  an  unsafe 
guide.  The  Crusader  was  a  fanatic.  He  fought  for  the  restora- 
tion of  Palestine.  From  his  point  of  view  that  restoration  was 
essential.  From  the  view  point  of  true  religion,  it  lacked  neces- 
sity. To  the  Crusader,  the  Mohammedan  was  a  Pagan.  Was 
not  the  Jew  to  him  also  Pagan?  How  did  he  discriminate? 
He  began  by  loving  Palestine.  He  concluded  by  hating  all  not 
of  his  faith. 

Scott's  picture  of  the  sufifering  of  the  Jew  is  not  overdrawn. 
To  be  sure,  if  we  search  lynx-eyed  for  inaccuracies  we  shall  find 
them.  Remember,  hov/ever,  that  Scott  wrote  not  of  his  own 
time,  but  of  a  day  already  more  than  six  hundred  years  old.  It 
is  nothing  short  of  remarkable  that  he  could  describe  the  condi- 
tions of  that  time  so  accurately,  that  he  could  so  cut  himself  off 
from  the  life  that  was  about  him,  and  for  the  time  being  live  the 
Hfe  of  the  days  long  gone. 

Naturally,  inevitably,  his  own  immediate  environment  was  not 
without  its  effect  upon  him.  The  condition  of  the  Jew  was  not 
an  enviable  one.  Humiliated,  despised,  cursed,  his  helpless 
condition  made  most  people  take  advantage  of  him.  That  con- 
dition made  Scott  his  champion.  Years  had  passed  since  Cum- 
berland defended  the  Jew.  Scott  needed  no  less  courage  to 
write  his  Ivanhoe."  He  wrote  of  the  twelfth  century.  The 
lesson  still  came  home  to  his  own  generation.  Isaac  of  York 
and  Rebecca  suffered  when  Richard  the  Lion-hearted  lived. 
Yes,  but  many  an  Isaac  and  Rebecca  still  suffered  during  the 
reigns  of  George  HI  (1760-1820)  and  George  IV  (1820-1830). 
Scott  said  he  could  not  permit  Rebecca  to  marry  Ivanhoe  be- 
cause the  prejudices  of  the  day  would  have  rendered  such  a 


44  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 

union  impossible.  Is  the  statement  a  reflection  of  conditions 
obtaining  when  he  wrote,  as  weU  as  during  the  period  of  which 
he  wrote?  At  any  rate,  while  the  cause  of  the  Jew  had  certainly 
advanced  from  the  day  when  the  entire  community  at  York 
could  be  massacred  in  cold  blood,  it  was  still  in  need  of 
champions  like  Cumberland  and  Macaulay  and  Scott.  Who  w^ill 
determine  the  degree  to  which  these  men  were  responsible  for 
the  position  the  Jew  enjoys  in  England  to-day  ? 

II.  Suggestions. 

1.  The  Jews  most  likely  came  to  Britain  while  it  was  still 
under  Roman  sway.  They  preceded  both  Saxons  and  Normans, 
and  suffered  at  the  hands  of  both.  By  Canute  (994-1035)  they 
were  banished  to  the  Continent,  but  they  returned  with  William 
the  Conqueror  (1027-1087).  From  that  time  until  1189  they  suf- 
fered comparatively  little  from  prejudice.  Neither  tlie  First  nor 
the  Second  Crusade  stirred  the  stolid  English  to  any  consider- 
able degree.  Richard  the  Lion-hearted  (11 57-1 199)  was  averse 
to  the  persecution  of  the  Jews,  yet  it  was  at  his  coronation  that 
that  very  persecution  began,  tho'Ugh  he  was  not  responsible  for 
it  and  sought  to  check  it.  He  took  part  in  the  Third  Crusade. 
During  his  absence,  his  brother  John,  who  practically  usurped 
the  throne,  made  the  Jews'  lot  a  hard  one. 

2.  The  massacre  of  the  Jews  at  the  coronation  of  Richard  I. 
occurred  on  the  3d  of  September,  1189.  The  Jews  were  attacked 
and  killed  in  great  numbers  at  Norwich,  February  6th,  1190,  at 
Stamford,  March  7th,  1190,  at  York,  March  17th,  1190,  and  at 
Bury  St.  Edmunds,  March  18th,  1190.  The  action  of  Ivanhoc  " 
occurs  during  these  troublous  years,  toward  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  century. 

3.  Myers  (Mediaeval  and  Modern  History,  205)  in  presenting 
a  perverted  picture  of  Richard  L,  states  that  the  money  for  the 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


45 


Third  Crusade  was  secured  by  the  persecution  and  robbery  of 
the  Jews.  The  entire  attitude  of  Richard  toward  the  Jews  would 
behe  the  statement.  Money  was  secured  from  the  Jews,  but  only 
as  it  was  secured  from  all,  and  not  because  of  any  personal  ani- 
mosity but  simply  because,  due  to  the  Crusade  and  its  results, 
money  had  to  be  secured  in  some  way.  Very  little  discrimina- 
tion was  shown. 

4.  Isaac  is  described  as  a  man  of  wealth  living  in  York.  Two 
very  wealthy  Jews  of  York,  Joceus  (or  Josce)  and  Benedict  (the 
latter  was  converted  to  Christianity  under  compulsion,  and  later, 
when  the  fact  became  known,  permitted  by  Richard  I.  to  return 
to  Judaism),  are  said  to-  have  been  individually  responsible  for 
the  terrible  fate  that  befell  the  Jews  of  that  city.  Their  wealth 
made  them  the  target  of  the  fanatics  of  that  time.  Of  the  entire 
Jewish  community  not  one  was  permitted  to  escape  alive.  They 
made  a  brave  defense  against  the  enemy  (a  braver  defense  is 
unknown),  but  it  was  vain.  All,  to  the  number  of  500,  were 
killed. 

5.  When  "  Ivanhoe  was  written  (1820),  the  condition  of  the 
Jews  was  different  from  what  it  had  been  in  earlier  years.  Yet 
full  recognition  was  by  no  means  their 's.  Remember  that  it  was 
not  until  1830  that  Macaulay  made  his  famous  address  On  the 
Civil  Disabilities  of  the  Jews.'' 

6.  Scott's  defence  of  the  Jew  (for  despite  Isaac  that  is  what 
"  Ivanhoe  "  stands  for)  must  have  exerted  a  tremendous  influence 
in  changing  the  popular  estimate  of  the  Jew. 

7.  Though  some  deny  it,  many  believe  that  the  original  of 
Rebecca  of  "  Ivanhoe  "  was  Rebecca  Gratz,  the  remarkable  Jew- 
ess of  Philadelphia  (1781-1869).  She  was  a  particularly  close 
friend  of  Matilda  Hoffman,  the  first,  last  and  only  love  of  Wash- 
ington Irving,  and  was  with  her  in  her  last  hours.  Irving,  who 
had  always  admired  Miss  Gratz,  admired  her  now  miore  than 


46 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


ever,  and  on  his  visit  to  Scott  in  1817,  described  her  to  him. 

Ivanhoe  "  was  written  in  1820.  The  hrst  copy  went  to  Irving, 
accompanied  by  a  letter  in  which  Scott  wrote :  How  do  you 
Hke  your  Rebecca?  Does  the  Rebecca  I  have  pictured  compare 
well  with  the  pattern  given?" 

8.  Lockhart  tells  us  that  Scott  became  interested  in  the  Jews 
and  so  wrote  of  them  in  "  Ivanhoe/'  because  of  a  description  of  the 
condition  of  the  Jews  in  Germany,  which  Mr.  Skene  had  given 
him,  while  planning  the  plot  of  the  book.  In  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Skene  after  the  appearance  of  Ivanhoe,  Scott  wrote:  ''You  will 
find  the  book  owes  no-t  a  little  to  your  German  reminiscences." 

9.  Again  the  virtue  of  parental  affection.  Isaac  has  his  faults, 
but  loves  his  daughter.  So  Shylock.  In  view  of  this  fact 
Beaulieu's  words  are  suggestive  (but  are  they  altogether  true  ?) : 

To  a  close  observer  the  Jew  is  perhaps  the  most  affectionate 
of  men,  but  all  his  affection  was  reserved  for  his  family  or  race. 
His  nature,  so  hard  and  callous  on  the  outside,  remained  tender 
in  its  innermost  depths.  The  Jew,  too,  was  a  man  .  .  .  but  he 
was  a  man  toward  his  brethren  only,  toward  those  who  treated 
him  like  a  man.  Against  all  others  he  clothed  himself  in  an 
armor  of  spines,  or  rolled  himself  up  in  a  ball,  or  else  he  shut 
himself  in  cold  impassiveness."        Israel  Among  the  Nations," 

10.  Ivanhoe  "  is  variously  estimated :  ''  As  a  work  of  art, 
Ivanhoe   is   perhaps   first   of   all  Scott's   efforts." — Lockhart. 

Ivanhoe  never  can  be  ranked  with  his  (Scott's)  highest  achieve- 
ments."— Mrs.  Oliphant.  Scott  at  his  worst,  excels  all  others 
at  their  best." — Saintsbury. 

11.  Rebecca  ''the  sweetest  character  in  the  whole  range  of 
fiction." — Thackeray.  In  the  introduction  to  the  edition  of  1830, 
Scott  tells  us  that  when  first  the  book  appeared,  the  character 
of  Rebecca  found  so  much  favor,  that  he  was  censured  for  not 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


47 


having  married  her  instead  of  Rowena,  much  less  interesting,  to 
Ivanhoe.  In  answer,  among  other  things,  he  said:  Not  to 
mention  that  the  prejudices  of  the  age  rendered  such  a  union 
impossible,  the  author  may  in  passing  observe,  that  he  thinks| 
a  character  of  a  highly  virtuous  and  lofty  stamp  is  degraded 
rather  than  exalted,  by  an  attempt  to  reward  virtue  with  tem- 
poral prosperity.  It  is  a  dangerous  and  fatal  doctrine  to  teach 
young  persons,  the  most  common  readers  of  romance,  that  rec- 
titude of  conduct  and  of  principle  are  either'  naturally  allied 
with,  or  adequately  rewarded  by,  the  gratification  of  our  passions 
or  attainment  of  our  wishes." 

12.  It  is  suggested  that  Aaron  of  York  gave  Scott  his  idea 
of  Isaac.  This  Aaron  was  born  in  York  some  time  before  1190 
and  died  after  1253.  He  was  probably  the  son  of  Josce  of  York 
mentioned  above,  and  was  for  a  time  Chief  Rabbi  of  England. 

13.  "I  am  not,  God  knows,  a  bigot  in  religious  matters,  nor 
a  friend  to  persecution,"  wrote  Scott  to  Southey;  yet  he  called 
Catholicism  a  superstition,"  declared  it  silly,  possessed  of 
absurd  ritual  and  solemnities  and  a  good  competence  of  non- 
sense." 

14.  Walter  Bagehot,  whose  criticisms  are  usually  worth  ser- 
ious attention,  insists  that  almost  without  exception  Scott's  char- 
acters are  commonplace.  We  see  them  from  without,  not  from 
within.  We  see  how  they  dress  and  know  how  they  speak,  but 
we  know  nothing  of  their  real  feelings.    They  have  no  soul. 

15.  Thackeray,  in  his  satirical  way,  objects  to  the  conclusion 
of  Ivanhoe,"  and  in  a  somewhat  humorous  though  scarcely  ap- 
pealing burlesque,  presents  a  sequel  to  the  story.  The  bur- 
lesque gives  us  some  idea  of  Thackeray's  attitude  toward  the 
Jew. 


I.  Describe  the  condition  of  the  Jews  in  England  at  the  time 
of  the  action  of  Ivanhoe," 


III.    Tests  and  Reviews. 


48 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


2.  What  was  the  condition  of  the  EngHsh  Jews  when  "  Ivan- 
hoe  "  appeared? 

3.  What  may  have  interested  Scott  in  the  fortunes  of  the  Jews 
and  suggested  his  Jewish  characters? 

4.  Present  briefly  the  Ufe  of  Rebecca  Gratz. 

5.  Compare  Rebecca  Gratz  with  Rebecca  Franks  who  became 
Lady  Johnston. 

6.  Compare  Rebecca  and  Rowena. 

7.  "  Isaac  of  York  is  but  a  milder  Shylock."  Compare  the 
two. 

8.  He  wished  not  the  world  to  elevate  itself,  to  amend  itself, 
to  do  this  or  do  that,  except  simply  pay  him  for  the  books  he 
kept  writing." — Carlyle  speaking  of  Scott.  Is  the  criticism  just? 
Must  the  novel  have  a  purpose?  What  is  the  difference  between 
a  historian  and  a  historical  novelist? 

9.  Can  you  mention  any  historical  inaccuracies  in  "  Ivanhoe  "? 

10.  What,  from  Ivanhoe,''  would  you  judge  to  have  been 
Scott's  attitude  toward  other  faiths? 

11.  Compare  Scott  and  Thackeray  in  their  ideas  of  the  Jew. 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 
Jews  in  Europe,  1171-1205. 
Graetz,  III,  382-445. 
In  England. 

Graetz,  III,  409  f. 
In  York. 

Graetz,  III,  413  f. 

Jacobs,    Jews  of  Angevin  England,"  77,  1 17-134,  385-396. 
Richard  and  the  Jews. 

Jacobs,  131-138. 
Massacre  at  Coronation  of  Richard. 

Jacobs,  99-108. 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


49 


Massacres  at  Norwich,  Stamford,  St.  Edmunds,  Lynn. 

Jacobs,  112-116. 
Jews  in  Germany,  1800  f. 

Graetz,  V,  465. 
In  England,  1800-1820,  when     Ivanhoe  "  was  written. 

Picciotto,     Sketches  of  Anglo-Jewish  History,"  264-288. 
Aaro-n  of  York. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia. 
Was  Rebecca  Gratz  the  original  of  Rebecca  in  ''Ivanhoe"? 

Affirmative:  Gratz  Von  Rensselaer.    Century,  September 
1882. 

Wharton,     Colonial  Days  and  Dames,"  231-237. 
Morals,    Jews  of  Philadelphia." 
Sartain,  "  Reminiscences." 
Negative:  Andrew  Lang's  Edition  of  Ivanhoe,  Introduction 
Lockhart,    Life  of  Scott." 

Daly,    Settlement  of  the  Jews  in  North  America." 
Rebecca  Franks. 

Wharton,  ''Through  Colonial  Doorways,"  59-61,  2i;2-2i3, 
217-219. 

M.  Kohler,    Rebecca  Eranks,  Ian  American-Jewish  Belle  of 
the  Revolution." 
Scott  and  Plis  Mistakes. 

Hutton,  "  Life  of  Scott,"  114-116. 
A  Critical  Estimate  of  Scott. 

Saintsbury,     Scott,"  69-156. 

Bagehot,  "  Literary  Studies,"  II,  85-126. 
Scott's  Estimate  of  ''  Ivanhoe." 

Letter  of  Lawrence  Templeton  (Scott's  pen  name),  to  Rev. 
Dryasdust,  prefixed  to  most  editions  of  Ivanhoe. 
The  Jews  in  Ivanhoe." 

Lockhart,  II,  447. 


50  The  ChautauoUxV  System  of  Education 


Macaiilay  and  the  Jews. 

Address  on  the  Bill  for  the  RemoA^al  of  Jewish  Disabilities. 
Thaekeray  and  the  Jews. 

Burlesques,  "  Rebecca  and  Rowena/'  and  Codlingsby." 
The  White  Squall." 
Miss  Lowe.'' 

The  Journey  from  Cornhill  to  Cairo." 
See    Jewish  American,"  September  5,  1902. 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 

Hanukah  falls  this  year  (1901)  on  Dec.  6th.    The  readings 
for  Lesson  V  will  therefore  concern  themselves  with  this  day. 
Should  the  holiday  occur  in  other  years  at  a  different  time,  the 
readings  can  of  course  be  readily  rearranged. 
Lazarus,    The  Banner  of  the  Jew." 

"  The  Feast  of  Lights." 
Masoch,    The  Legend  of  the  Roman  Matron." 
Longfellow,    Judas  Maccabaeus." 

The  following  books  of  fiction  treat  of  the  period  of  history  re- 
called by  Hanukah. 

Church,    The  Hammer." 

Yonge,    The  Patriots  of  Palestine." 

Ludlow,  Deborah." 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


51 


LESSON  VI. 
I.    Required  Reading. 
Oliver  Twist."    Charles  Dickens  (1812-1870). 

Rebecca  and  Fagin. — What  a  contrast!  Yet  the  latter  was 
born  when  the  former  was  already  seventeen  years  of  age— - 
born  at  a  time  when  again  the  cause  of  liberty  and  liberality  was 
beginning  to  find  voice.  The  Reform  Bill  was  passed  in  1832. 
Public  sentiment  compelled  its  passage.  But  public  sentiment 
had  not  yet  taken  the  Jew  under  its  wing.  So  the  Jew  still  sor- 
rowed, because  he  was  misunderstood. 

But  how  comes  it  that  a  writer  like  Dickens,  on  the  whole  so 
liberal,  and  always  the  champion  of  the  weak,  the  poor,  the  de- 
fenseless, could  offer  Fagin  as  a  Jew?  Surely  he  must  have 
known  that  the  picture  was  not  true,  and  he  must  have  known 
wli:^t  its  effect  would  be  on  The  Jewish  Question."  Was  he 
prejudiced  against  the  Jew,  and  did  he  write  to  spread  that  pre- 
judice? In  1863,  a  Jewess  of  London  to  whom  Fagin  seemed 
unworthy  of  Dickens,  wrote  to  him,  remarking  how  surprised 
she  was  to  find  that  Charles  Dickens,  the  large  hearted,  whose 
works  plead  so  eloquently  for  the  oppressed  of  his  country, 
has  encouraged  a  vile  prejudice  against  the  despised  Hebrew." 
The  answer  is  characteristic  of  Dickens,  but  expressive  of  the 
sentiment  of  the  day.  It  is  an  open  and  frank  explanation,  hon- 
est and  clear.  It  shows  how  little  Dickens  was  pandering  to 
the  popular  taste  when  he  drew  Fagin,  but  it  shows  too  how 
really  little  he  knew  of  the  Jew.  "  Fagin,  in  '  Oliver  Twist 
ran  his  answer  is  a  Jew,  because  it  unfortunately  was  true  at 
the  time  to  which  that  story  refers,  that  that  class  of  criminal 
almost  invarial)ly  was  a  Jew.  But  surely,  no  sensible  man  or 
woman  of  your  persuasion  can  fail  to  observe — firstly,  that  all 


52 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


the  rest  of  the  wicked  dramatis  personae  are  Christians,  and  sec- 
ondly, that  he  is  called  a  Jew  not  because  of  his  rehgion,  but 
because  of  his  race.  If  I  were  to  write  a  story  in  which  I  de- 
scribed a  Frenchmen  or  a  Spaniard  as  the  '  Roman  Catholic,'  I 
should  do  a  very  indecent  and  unjustifiable  thing,  but  I  make 
mention  of  Fagin  as  the  Jew,  because  he  is  one  of  the  Jewish 
people  and  because  it  conveys  that  kind  of  idea  of  him,  which  I 
should  give  my  readers,  of  a  Chinaman,  by  calling  him  Chinese/' 
This  may  be  an  explanation,  but  it  is  no  justification.  Dickens 
created  his  Fagin  not  because  he  hated  the  Jew,  but  because  he 
did  not  know  him.  Is  it  not  another  illustration  of  the  truth 
that  "  knowledge  is  saving?"  The  further  question  at  once  sug- 
gests itself.  Is  the  Jew  at  all  responsible  for  the  prevalent  ig- 
norance of  the  truth  about  him?  A  Jewess  opened  the  eyes  of 
Dickens,  as  we  shall  see  when  we  consider  Our  Mutual 
Friend/'  Is  it  not  the  Jew's  duty  to  open  the  eyes  of  all  that 
walk  in  darkness?  " 

Carlyle  in  his  usual  brusque  way,  accuses  Scott  of  writing 
merely  for  the  money  that  was  in  it.  Unless  the  reference 
is  to  the  time  when,  it  consequence  of  the  Ballantyne  failure, 
Scott  wrote  to  pay  ofif  his  debts,  there  is  too  much  of  real 
moral  purpose  running  through  not  only  Ivanhoe  "  but  the 
other  Waverley  novels,  to  give  the  charge  any  weight.  But  what- 
ever the  truth  about  Scott,  Carlyle  himself  would  hardly  deny 
Dickens  a  purpose.  Scott  is  more  romantic;  Dickens  more  real, 
more  intense.  Scott  teaches  while  describing  the  past;  Dickens 
by  painting  the  present  in  all  its  liideousness.  The  one  proved 
more  entertaining,  the  other  from  a  moral  viewpoint  more  help- 
ful. For  it  is  interesting  to  read  of  the  times  that  were  and 
feel  stirring  within,  the  desire  to  emulate  the  deeds  of  the  days 
of  chivalry.  It  is  better  to  learn  the  truth  about  our  own  time, 
however  sad  that  truth  may  be,  providing  only  it  inspires  us  to 
assist  those  in  need  of  our  assistance.    Scott's  novels  sprang 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


53 


into  popular  favor  and  still  retain  it.  Dickens  told  men  too 
much  of  truth  to  find  immediate  welcome.  But  men  came  to  sec 
that  truth  at  last,  and  that  was  the  moment  of  Dickens'  victory.' 
How  much  grander  that  victory  would  have  been,  if  such  an  un- 
truth as  Fagin  had  not  been  inextricably  interwoven  with  it? 
Perhaps  some  day  Dickens  himself  would  realize  the  inconsis- 
tency, the  injustice,  and  endeavor  to  make  it  good. 

With  Scott  and  Dickens  we  leave  the  eighteenth  and  enter  the 
nineteenth  century.  We  come  into  the  century  during  whose 
course  the  cause  of  freedom  and  liberalism  triumphed.  It  is  the 
period  of  Jewish  emancipation,  particularly  in  England.  Many 
obstacles  were  yet  to  be  encountered  before  that  emancipation 
was  complete.  But  no-  such  year  as  1754  would  again  be  known. 
The  very  year  1837,  which  begot  a  Fagin,  saw  the  death  of  Wil- 
Ham  IV.  A  new  ruler,  Queen  Victoria,  ascended  the  throne. 
With  her  coming,  the  cause  of  the  Jew  became  brighter,  as  dur- 
ing her  reign  that  cause  gained  its  victory.  When  first  she  came, 
the  Jew  was  already  the  recipient  of  an  interested  attention — 
not  the  undesirable  attention  of  which  he  had  been  so  long  the 
victim,  but  an  attention  which  gave  him  hope  and  promised  good 
results.  When  by  decree  of  God  that  good  Queen  left,  the 
Jew  could  mourn  her  passing,  no  longer  discriminated  against, 
but  blessed  with  the  rights  and  recognition  for  which  he  had  so 
long  hoped  and  fought. 

II.  Suggestions. 
I.  How  does  it  come  that  Dickens,  otherwise  so  liberal  and 
always  on  the  side  of  the  oppressed,  created  such  a  character 
as  Fagin?  The  answer  is  found  in  Dickens'  inability  to  grasp 
the  vital  distinction  betw^een  religion  and  race  and  nationality. 
To  him  the  word  Jew  is  like  the  name  Chinese.  Both  refer  to 
national  races,  or  racial  nations.  He  had  no  personal  prejudice. 
When  shown  the  wrong  Fagin  did  the  Jew,  he  apologized  in 
striking:  form. 


54 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


2.  Another  fault  of  Dickens.  He  generalizes  from  the  special, 
instead  of  specializing  from  the  general.  Instead  of  determining 
fiuman  nature,  and  then  creating  a  character  illustrating  it,  he 
hits  upon  an  exceptional  character  and  makes  it  stand  for  all. 
He  knew  a  Jew  like  Fagin,  he  tells  us.  Therefore  he  must  needs 
make  his  Fagin  stand  as  representative  of  the  Jews  of  his  day. 
"  He  expands  traits  into  people/'  as  Walter  Bagehot  puts  it. 

3.  Dickens  was  a  writer  with  a  purpose.  "  I  wished  to  show 
in  little  Oliver,  the  principle  of  good  surviving  through  every 
adverse  circumstance  and  triumphing  at  last."  The  full  purpose 
of  "  Oliver  Twist  "  must  have  been  even  larger,  the  creation  of  an 
interest  in  the  submerged  tenth.  Dickens  was  "  the  advocate  of 
the  absent."  Stanley.  Fie  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  poor,  who, 
wath  us  always,  are  often  forgotten  of  us. 

4.  Dickens  and  Thackeray  are  often  spoken  of  in  the  same 
breath.  They  were  for  a  long  time  friends,  but,  later  became 
estranged.  Yet  each  continued  to  speak  well  of  the  other.  (Sec 
reference  to  Dickens  in  "  Pendennis  "  and  estimate  of  Thackeray 
by  Dickens  after  former's  death.)  The  two  men  lived  in  the 
same  country  and  at  the  same  time.  Yet  there  was  no  resem- 
blance between  them.  From  Thackeray  you  gain  a  lower  esti- 
mate and  appreciation  of  life;  from  Dickens  a  higher.  Thack- 
eray was  a  cynic.  His  own  life  made  him  so.  Dickens  loved  men, 
and  was  happy,  even  though  as  Lanier  says  "  he  takes  the  slums 
and  raggedest  miseries  of  London  and  plumps  them  boldly 
down  in  the  parlors  of  high  life."  We  laugh  at  the  characters 
of  Thackeray.    We  laugh  wifli  those  of  Dickens. 

5.  Dickens  began  with  an  earnest  desire  to  reform.  He  criti- 
cized with  a  purpose  and  suggested  practical  remedies  for 
existing  conditions.  By  the  time  old  age  came  upon  him,  his 
criticism  had  become  more  general  and  less  specific,  more  in- 
tense and  less  just,  more  theoretic,  less  practical.    Its  tone  de- 


Jewish  Ciiakactkrs  in  I^iction 


g-encratcd.  At  first  it  produced  reform,  later  only  an  unsatis- 
factory discontent. 

6.  Scott  sprang  into  popularity,  Dickens  grew  into  it. 

7.  Dickens  knew  little  of  the  higher  and  better  side  of  Eng- 
lish life.  Its  lower  side  was  to  him  an  open  book.  He  saw 
only  the  "  Darkest  England." 

8.  Oliver  Twist  "  was  written  in  1837.  Remember  that  it  was 
not  until  1846  that  the  disabilities  of  the  Jew  in  England  were 
finally  removed.    The  terrible  Damascus  affair  occurred  in  1840. 

9.  Influential  as  was  Dickens  as  a  writer,  his  Fagin  could  not 
have  been  without  effect  in  intensifying  the  dislike  of  the  Jew. 
Whether  and  hovv^  much  Dickens  thus  delayed  the  emancipation 
of  the  Jew,  is  another  question. 

10.  Mackenzie,  in  his  life  of  Dickens,  tells  us  of  the  originals 
of  many  of  Dickens'  characters.  No-  original  of  Fagin  is  men- 
tioned. None  has  yet  been  found.  Why  Dickens  sHould  have 
made  him  (Fagin)  a  Jew,"  says  Rimmer  "  is  not  apparent,  for 
Jews,  as  a  rule,  are  among  the  most  law-abiding  subjects  in 
any  land.  But  it  is  said  that  he  was  a  real  portrait.  Still  he  is 
not  a  representative  character.  Men  bred  ancl  born  in  London, 
or  Birmingham  or  Liverpool,  Gentiles  let  us  say,  of  no  very 
defined  creed,  could  much  more  easily  be  found  to  fill  the  char- 
acter." 

III.    Tests  and  Review^s. 

1.  What  is  the  difference  between  a  race,  a  nation  and  a 
religion?  Is  Israel  a  race,  a  nationahty  or  a  rehgious  brother- 
hood? 

2.  What  did  Dickens  think  of  the  Jews? 

3.  Is  Fagin  either  true  or  representative? 

4.  How  could  a  character  like  Fagin  hurt  the  Jew? 

5.  What  was  the  status  of  the  Jew  in  England  when  ''  Oliver 
Twist"  was  written? 


56 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


6.  Describe  the  Damascus  charge  and  its  outcome. 

7.  Could  OHver  Twist  in  any  way  have  been  responsible  for 
the  tardy  emancipation  of  the  Jews? 

8.  Dickens  claims  that  at  the  time  the  story  was  written  every 
criminal  like  Fagin  was  a  Jew.    Is  the  statement  true  or  liberal? 

9.  Compare  Dickens  and  Thackeray. 

10.  What  was  the  purpose  of  Oliver  Twist  "?  What  is  meant 
by  the  statement  that  Dickens  was  the  advocate  of  the  absent." 
What  did  he  try  to  do  for  the  poor?  What  did  he  succeed  in 
doing? 

11.  What  do  you  think  of  Dickens'  description  of  the  lower 
life  of  London? 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 
How     Oliver  Twist  "  was  written. 

Forster,     Life  of  Dickens,"  I,  152-164. 
A  Critical  Estimate  of  Dickens. 

Bagehot,  "  Literary  Studies/'  II,  127-167. 
Dickens  and  Reform. 

Forster,  I,  157-162. 
The  Originals  of  the  Characters  of  Dickens. 

Mackenzie,     Life  of  Dickens,''  188-209. 
Dickens  and  the  Jew. 

Max  Kohler,  The  American  Hebrew,  Sept.  24,  1897. 

A.  A.  Green,  American  Israelite,  Jan.  6,  1898. 

Mackenzie,  233-35. 
rrhe  European  Jew,  1830-1840. 

Graetz,  V,  589-631. 
The  Jew  in  England. 

Lady  Magnus,  "  Outlines  of  Jewish  History,"  315-334. 

McCarthy,     History  of  Our  Own  Times,"  II,  115-118. 

Wolf,  "Life  of  Montefiore." 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


The  Damascus  Af¥air. 

Graetz,  V,  632-636. 

Picciotto,  "  Sketches/'  347-358. 
Dickens  and  Thackeray,  A  Contrast. 

McCarthy,    History  of  Our  Own  Times,''  II,  549-554. 

Ward,     Life  of  Dickens,"  165. 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 

Lucas,  Hillel  and  His  Guest,"  in  "  The  Jewish  Year." 
Schnabel,     The  False  Turn,"  in     Vo-egele's  Marriage." 


58  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


LESSON  VII. 

I.  Required  Reading. 
Our  Mutual  Friend."  Charles  Dickens  (1812-1870). 
In  Harper's  Magazine  for  September,  1899,  Mark  Twain  had 
an  article  Concerning  the  Jews."  It  was  an  honest,  impartial 
consideration  of  the  Jew  and  the  Jewish  Question.  In  speaking 
of  the  Jew  as  a  citizen,  he  said  that  the  Jew  is  charged  with 
an  unpatriotic  disinclination  to  stand  by  the  flag  as  a  soldier — 
like  the  Christian  Quaker."  He  did  not  say  the  charge  was  true, 
or  that  he  believed  it  to  be  true.  He  even  admitted  that  if  it 
was  true,  it  was  a  truth  not  limited  to  the  Jew.  This  very  men- 
tion of  the  charge  however  gave  it  prominence  and  so  hurt  the 
Jew. 

Mr.  Simon  Wolf  of  Washington  at  once  sent  the  humorist  a 
copy  of  his  book,  The  American  Jew,  as  Patriot,  Soldier  and 
Citizen,"  with  the  result  that  when  the  article  Concerning 
the  Jews  "  appeared  later  in  the  volume  The  Man  That  Cor- 
rupted Hadleyburg  "  a  postscript  was  added,  in  which  the  author 
co-nfessed  the  mistake  he  had  made,  and  corrected  it.  He  had 
not  really  charged  the  Jew  with  cowardice,  but  through  ignor- 
ance of  the  real  facts  in  the  case,  he  had  allowed  that  charge 
to  stand  undenied.  Now  he  saw  the  truth  and  he  was  willing 
to  give  the  truth  the  publicity  he  had  given  the  lie.  It  was  his 
apology.    It  was  the  most,  the  best,  he  could  do. 

Now  it  requires  both  bravery  and  honesty  to  make  such  a 
public  apology,  and  writers  have  not  always  been  brave  and  hon- 
est. That  is  why,  while  the  Jew  has  so  often  been  wronged  in 
literature,  those  who  thus  wronged  him.  refused  to  confess  their 
mistake,  or  do  anything  to  repair  the  wrong  done.  Marlowe  and 
Shakespeare  could  not  perhaps  have  removed  the  evil  effects  of 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


59 


Barabas  and  Shylock,  by  creating*  other  and  truer  Jewish  char- 
acters.   But  they  could  certainly  have  lessened  these  evil  effects. 

Be  it  said  to  the  credit  of  Dickens,  that  when  he  saw  the  mis- 
take he  had  made  in  his  "  Fagin/'  he  at  once  tried  to  correct 
it.  He  was  not  a  man  of  prejudice.  When  he  wrote  Oliver 
Twist/'  he  simply  did  not  know  the  Jew.  He  had  heard  much 
of  him  and  had  read  something  al)out  him,  and  he  believed  what 
he  heard  and  read.  Fie  thought  Fagin  a  real  Jew,  even  a  repre- 
sentative one.  In  1863,  as  we  have  seen,  he  found  he  had  done 
the  Jew  a  wrong.  Verbal  apology  meant  little.  So  he  gave 
that  apology  literary  expression.    He  created  Riah. 

Two  years  later,  Dickens  received  from  the  Jewess  who  in 
1863  criticized  his  Fagin,  a  copy  of  Benisch's  Hebrew  and  Eng- 
lish Bible,  with  this  inscription:  "  Presented  to  Charles  Dick- 
ens, Esq.,  in  grateful  and  admiring  recognition  of  his  having 
exercised  the  noblest  quality  man  can  possess,  thar  of  atoning 
for  an  injury  as  soon  as  conscious  of  having  inflicted  it."  In 
answer  Dickens  wrote:  The  terms  in  which  you  send  me  that 
mark  of  remembrance,  are  more  gratifying  to  me  than  I  can 
possibly  express  to  you,  for  they  assure  me  there  is  nothing  but 
good  will  felt  between  me,  and  a  people  for  whom  I  have  a  real 
regard,  and  to  whom  I  would  not  willingly  have  given  an  offense 
or  done  an  injustice,  for  any  worldly  consideration." 

It  is  questionable  whether  Dickens'  apology  exerted  much 
influence  or  achieved  any  result.  It  certainly  was  not  respon- 
sible for  the  emancipation  of  the  Jew  in  England.  By  the  year 
1865  when  Our  Mutual  Friend  "  was  written,  Jewish  emancipa- 
tion in  England  was  practically  complete.  Fagin  must  have 
done  more  to  retard  that  consummation  than  Riah  to  hurry  it, 
or  bring  it  about.  The  apology  could  not  right  the  wrong.  An 
apology  never  does  right  a  wrong.  Sheva  did  not  redeem  SHy  - 
lock.  Riah  was  the  best  compensation  Dickens  could  offer. 
Hut  it  did  not  offset  the  evil  influence  of  Fagin.    It  could  not. 


6o  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 

One  bad  Jew  does  Israel  harm  a  score  of  good  Jews  cannot 
undo.  And  Dickens  knew  it.  I  reflected  he  makes  Riah  say 
in  telling  Jenny  of  his  connection  with  Fledgeby,  "  I  reflected 
for  the  first  time,  that  in  bending  my  neck  to  the  yoke  I  was 
willing  to  wear,  I  bent  the  necks  of  the  whole  Jewish  people. 
For  it  is  not  in  Christian  countries  with  the  Jews  as  with  other 
peoples.  Men  say,  '  This  is  a  bad  Greek,  but  there  are  good 
Greeks.  This  is  a  bad  Turk,  but  there  are  good  Turks.'  Not  so 
with  the  Jews.  Men  find  the  bad  among  us  easily  enough 
(among  what  peoples  are  the  bad  not  easily  found?),  but  they  take 
the  worst  of  us  as  samples  of  the  best;  they  take  the  lowest  of 
us  as  presentations  of  the  highest;  and  they  say,  ^All  Jews  are 
aHke.'  Dickens  knew  his  Fagin  had  helped  to  spread  and  per- 
petuate anti-Jewish  prejudice,  but  he  did  not  know  it  until  long 
after  Oliver  Twist "  had  been  written.  If  he  had  known  in 
1837  what  he  learned  in  1863,  Fagin  would  most  likely  never 
have  seen  the  light  of  day.  But  learning  the  truth  only  after 
the  wrong  had  been  done,  he  did  the  best  he  could  to  make  re- 
paration.   It  is  the  most  any  brave  and  honest  man  can  do. 

II.  Suggestions. 

1.  ''Oliver  Twist"  was  written  in   1837.      ''Our  Mutual 
Friend  "  in  1865,  and    Tancred  "  by  Disraeli,  which  we  consider 
in  Lesson  VIII,  in  1847.    Chronologically  therefore,  Tancred 
precedes    Our  Mutual  Friend,''  but  we  give  the  latter  first  treat- 
ment, because  Riah  was  meant  to  be  an  apology  for^  Fagin, 

2.  Fagin  and  Riah,  both  pictured  as  Jews,  yet  with  nothing 
in  common.  The  one,  an  embodiment  of  all  that  is  vicious;  the 
other  a  paragon  of  all  that  is  virtuous. 

3.  Riah's  one  faiilt,  he  cowers  and  cringes  to  Fledgeby. 
When  the  Jew  knew  no  rights,  he  seldom  dared  speak  out,  or 
defy  his  oppressors.  He  suffered  patiently.  But  in  England, 
by  the  year  1866,  the  Jew  was  reheved  of  every  vestige  of  dis- 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


6i 


crimination,  and  enjoyed  every  privilege.  Still  it  takes  time 
to  outgrow  habit. 

4.  ''Who  but  you  and  I  ever  heard  of  a  poor  Jew"?  asks 
Fledgeby,  ''  The  Jews,"  is  Riah's  answer.  The  world  believes 
every  Jew  to  be  rich;  the  Jew  knows  most  Jews  to  be  poor. 

5.  Riah,  good  as  he  is,  is  still  concerned  with  money-lending. 
Dickens  had  come  to  see  much  of  the  truth  about  the  Jew,  but 
he  was  still  given  to  exaggerated  generalization. 

6.  In  general,  Our  Mutual  Friend  "  is  criticised  as  being  one 
of  Dickens'  poorest  efforts.  It  was  written  but  five  years  before 
his  death,  and  during  a  severe  illness.  Had  this  iconoclastic 
but  ignorant  zeal.  .  .which.  .  .was  apparent  in  his  last  completed 
novel,  been  united  with  less  original  genius,  the  result  must 
have  been  infinitely  tedious,  and  could  not  have  been  in  any  way 
profitable." — Saintsbury.  McCarthy  is  no  less  severe  in  his 
criticism.  Dickens  had  as  little  knowledge  of  any  kind  save 
that  which  is  derived  fro-m  observation,  as  any  respectable  Eng- 
lishman could  well  have." 

7.  The  Revolutions  of  February  and  March,  1848,  brought  the 
Jews  many  blessings.  They  really  emancipated  the  Jews.  In 
1865  our  own  Civil  War  came  to  an  end,  and  the  negro  slave 
became  free.    By  that  time  the  Jew  could  help  bestow  freedom. 

8.  When  Riah  hears  of  Fledgeby's  injuries,  he  wishes  to  visit 
and  tend  him  at  once.    How  unlike  Shylock  and  Barabas! 

9.  Dickens  wrote  his  every  volume  with  a  purpose.  The  pur- 
pose of  ''Our  Mutual  Friend"  he  explains  in  his  postscript, 
which  takes  the  place  of  a  preface.  He  wished  to  correct  the 
abuses  of  the  English  Poor  Law. 

HI.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

1.  What  led  Dickens  to  create  the  character  of  Riah? 

2.  Compare  Fagin  and  Ria-h. 


62 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


3   Does  Fagin  apologize  for  Riah? 

4.  Can  an  apology  remove  the  evil  effects  of  a  wrong  done? 

5.  What  has  Dickens  done  for  the  Jews? 

6.  What  progress  did  the  Jewish  Cause  make  from  1837,  when 
Oliver  Twist was  written,  to   1865,  when     Our  Mutual 

Friend"  appeared? 

7.  Mrs.  ]\Iilvey,  learning  that  Lizzie  is  staying  at  Riah's,  fears 
he  will  try  to  convert  her  to  his  religion.  Lizzie  answers,  They 
never  talk  of  theirs  to  us,  and  they  never  talk  of  ours  to  us." 
Is  Judaism  a  missionary  religion? 

8.  Chap.  XIII  is  introduced  by  these  w^ords:  ''Give  a  dog  a 
bad  name,  and  hang  him."  The  reference  is  to  Fleclgeby's 
denunciation  of  Riah.    Have  these  words  larger  significance? 

9.  Why  is  Our  Mutual  Friend  "  not  generally  considered  as 
strong  a  book  as  ''  Oliver  Twist  "?  Have  the  Jewish  characters 
anything  to  do  with  that  judgment?  Setting  aside  critical  esti- 
mates, what  do  you  think  of  "  Our  Mutual  Friend  "  ? 

10.  "  Riah  is  a  mere  stage  saint." — Ward.  Do  you  agree  with 
the  criticism? 

11.  Compare  Riah  and  Sheva. 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 
The  Readings  in  Lesson  VI  may  here  be  referred  to. 
Riah  an  Apology  for  Fagin. 

Forster,  "'Life  of  Dickens,"  HI,  372  f. 
Ward,  "  Life  of  Dickens,"  173  f. 

Green,     The  Jew  in  Fiction,"  American  Israelite,  Jan.  6, 

'98- 

The  Beginning  and  Development  of    Our  Mutual  Friend." 

Forster,  HI,  371-379. 
The  London  of Our  Mutual  Friend." 

Rimmer,     About  England  witli  Dickens,"  246-265. 


Jewish  Ciiaractkrs  in  Ficiion 


A  Critical  Estimate  of  '\  Our  Mutual  Friend/' 

Ward,  169-175. 
The  Jew  After  1848. 

Graetz,  V,  697-704. 
The  Removal  of  Jewish  Disabilities. 

Picciotto,  386-401. 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 
Longfellow,     The  Legend  of  Rabbi  b.  Levi." 
Gordon,     The  Conquest  of  Aaron  Pittrick,"  in     Daughters  of 
Shem  and  Other  Stories." 


64 


Ihe  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


LESSON  VIII. 

1.    Required  Reading. 
Tancred."    Benjamin  Disraeli  (1804-1881). 

Dickens  was  a  realist.  He  described  merely  one  side  of  Eng- 
lish life,  the  lower.  But  he  described  it  as  it  was.  He  was  seek- 
ing truth  and  when  he  found  it,  he  gave  it  striking  expression, 
whether  that  expression  could  be  accounted  art  or  not.  He  was 
eminently  practical.  He  was  interested  in  his  own  day  and  in 
his  own  surroundings.  He  labored  with  the  present.  So  far  as 
he  was  concerned,  the  future  could  take  care  of  itself,  while  the 
dead  past  "  could     bury  its  dead." 

Disraeli  was  one  of  the  Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto."  He  too 
knew  his  day,  and  he  knew  men.  Had  he  not  known  them,  he 
could  never  have  exerted  such  tremendous  political  influence. 
But  with  it  all,  he  always  dreamed.  It  was  as  though  he  lived 
two  lives,  one  eminently  practical,  the  other  romantic.  Zangwill 
calls  him  The  Primrose  Sphinx."  Indeed  he  was  and  is  a 
mystery.  Who  can  say  what  he  really  was  or  what  he  really 
hoped  to  accomplish?  Looking  back  over  his  life,  it  is  remarka- 
ble how  many  of  his  dreams  came  true.  He  made  them  come 
true.    He  was  an  idealist,  but  a  realist  as  well. 

Brandes  has  written  a  life  of  Disraeli  based  almost  wholly  on 
his  literary  productions.  For  Disraeli  wrote  himself  into  his 
books.  They  constitute  his  autobiography.  Their  characters 
dream  for  him,  speak  for  him,  act  for  him,  endure  for  him.  He 
made  no  efTort  to  hide  himself.  To  understand  Disraeli  we  must 
read  his  novels.  But  to  understand  his  novels  we  must  also 
study  his  life. 

Once  a  Jew  always  a  Jew."  Disraeli  was  baptized  when  but 
a  child,  because  his  father  had  deserted  Judaism.    But  baptism 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction  65 

made  him  no  less  Jewish.  He  continued  to  speak  for  the  Jew, 
write  for  the  Jew  and  fight  for  the  Jew.  How  much  good  he 
did  the  Jewish  cause,  it  is  hard  to  tell.  "  He  had  always  assisted 
the  movement  (civil  emancipation  of  the  Jew)  .  .  .  unlike  some 
other  men,  who  carried  on  their  faces  the  evidence  of  their 
Hebrew  extraction,  and  who  yet  made  themselves  conspicuous 
for  their  opposition  to  it." — McCarthy.  Whatever  Disraeli's 
direct  influence  on  the  Jewish  Question,  his  indirect  influence 
must  have  been  tremendous.  He  lived  to  see  the  English  Jew 
enjoying  the  freedom  so  long  denied  him. 

Disraeli  hoped  for  Israel's  future,  but  he  gloried  in  its  past. 
He  never  tired  of  enumerating  its  contributions  to  civilization. 
His  zeal,  however,  led  him  to  exaggeratioin,  and  it  led  him  as 
well  to  mistake.  Jewish  birth,  though  it  may  lead  to,  is  not  in 
itself  Jewish  worth.  Israel  is  not  a  pure  unmixed  race,  if  it  is  a 
race  at  all.  The  Jew  has  given  the  world  much,  but  he  has  not 
given  it  all  its  blessings.  Judaism  is  not  merely  Oriental,  it  is 
universal.  It  is  a  religion  rather  of  duty  than  of  privilege,  of 
sentiment  not  sentimentalism.  Disraeli  could  not  or  would  not 
understand  all  this.  The  world  did  not  like  him  because  he  was 
a  Jew.  Well,  he  would  prove  to  the  world  that  the  Jew  was  its 
most  generous  benefactor.  Without  the  Jew,  no  civilization," 
was  his  cry.  Exaggeration  and  generalization  sometimes  win 
the  day  by  taking  men  by  surprise.  But  often  when  the  reaction 
sets  in,  even  the  truth  is  denied. 

Disraeli  was  thoroughly  oriental  in  temperament.  He  loved 
the  East,  thought  of  it,  dreamed  of  it,  for  there  Israel  had  lived 
and  achieved.  He  visited  Spain,  whence  his  own  immediate 
ancestors  had  been  exiled  in  1492.  He  journeyed  to  Venice, 
whither  they  had  gone  and  where  they  lived  when  Shakespeare 
pictured  his  Shylock.  He  went  to  Malta,  and  was  received  with 
open  arms  and  loud  acclaim.  What  a  contrast  to  the  position 
of  Barabas!    He  travelled  still  eastward.    For  him,  eastward 


66  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


the  course  of  Empire  "  took  its  way."  He  reached  Palestine 
and  dreamed  dreams  and  saw  visions."  He  was  inspired. 
Why  should  not  Israel  again  become  the  power  it  once  was? 
Why  should  not  England  become  a  world  empire  embracing 
all  the  East?  He  returned  to  Engfand  still  dreaming.  "  Alroy 
is  an  expression  of  that  dream.  So  is  Tancred."  For  England 
the  dream  was  realized.  For  Israel?  Had  Disraeli  remained 
in  the  Ghetto/'  says  Zangwill,  speaking  of  The  Redemption  of 
Palestine/'  "  he  might  have  applied  his  unifying  intellect  to  Israel 
instead  of  to  the  British  Empire,  as  sprawling  and  incoherent  in 
his  day,  as  Israel  is  in  ours."  Zangwill,  too,  is  a  dreamer. 
After  all,  is  not  every  Jew  a  dreamer,  or  did  he  dream  in  days 
gone  by,  and  now  dreams  no  more? 

Who  will  answer  the  riddle  of  the  Sphinx?  Nominally  a 
Christian,  he  is  Jewish  in  belief  and  feeling.  A  Tory  in  politics, 
he  supports  liberal  movements.  Oriental  in  temperament,  he  is 
English  through  and  through.  A  dreamer,  yet  w^ith  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  men  and  a  practical  grasp  of  contemporary  events. 
Careless  of  opposition,  indifTerent  to  personal  attack,  almost 
feelingless,  Sidonia  himself,  apparently  all  mind  and  no  heart, 
he  is  responsive  to  every  suffering  cry.  While  Disraeli  never 
forgot  a  friend,  he  never  remembered  a  personal  affront."- — 
Froude.  Carlyle  always  denounced  him.  Yet  he  was  the  only 
prinie-minister  who  saw  the  disgrace  to  England,  in  permitting 
Carlyle  to  live  unhonored  and  unrewarded.  Leech  had  carica- 
tured him  in  Punch  "  for  twenty  years.  Yet  when  Leech  died, 
Disraeli  had  his  pension  continued  for  the  wife  and  child.  How 
shall  we  explain  the  paradox?  We  attempt  no  explanation. 
We  cannot  analyze  genius.  We  cannot  read  men's  souls. 
Some  men's  personalities  are  like  inscriptions  in  an  unknown 
tongue.  They  can  be  studied,  and  read  if  at  all,  but  by  a  few, 
and  then  only  after  lengthy,  critical  examination.  Disraeli's  . 
character  was  fashioned  of  a  curious  co-mbination  of  differing 


Jewish  Ciiaractrrs  tn  "P'tctton 


67 


elements.  But  those  differing  elements  produced  a  powerful 
individuality,  one  that  knew  no  fear  and  no  failure.  In  the 
vision  at  Sinai,  the  angel  says  to  Tancred:  "  Fear  not,  faint  not, 
faJter  not.  Obey  the  impulse  of  thine  own  spirit  and  find  a 
ready  instrument  in  every  human  being.''  It  was  the  rule  of 
Disraeli's  own  life,  and  obedience  to  it  brought  him  the  success 
he  attained.  At  the  height  of  that  success,  three  verses  from 
In  Mem.oriam "  were  applied  to  him.  The  application  was 
ridiculed.  At  his  death  those  lines  were  quoted  again,  for  they 
were  true. 

Who  breaks  his  birth's  iiividions  bar 
And  grasps  the  skirts  of  happy  chance, 
And  breasts  the  blows  of  circumstance, 
And  grapples  with  his  evil  star; 

"  Who  makes  by  force  his  merit  known, 
And  lives  to  clutch  the  golden  keys, 
To  mould  a  mighty  state's  decrees, 
And  shape  the  whisper  of  the  throne ; 

"  And  moving  up  from  high  to  higher, 
Becomes  on  fortune's  crowning  slope, 
The  pillar  of  a  people's  hope, 
The  centre  of  a  world's  desire." 

II.  Suggestions. 

1.  When  Isaac  DTsraeli  withdrew  from  the  Jevv^ish  fold, 
Benjamin  was  but  thirteen  years  of  age,  old  enough,  if  report 
speaks  truly,  to  give  Samuel  Rogers  permission  to  have  him 
baptized,  but  certainly  too  young  to  appreciate  the  step. 

2.  Though  thereafter  nominally  Christian,  Disraeli  was  never 
virtually  so.  To  the  world  of  course  he  was  still  Jew,  despite 
his  baptism.  (Is  that  not  always  the  case?)  The  world's  atti- 
tude threw  him  back  upon  himself.  The  world  did  not  like  the 
Jew.    The  world  did  not  like  him  because  he  was  a  Jew.  He 


68  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


would  make  that  world  see  that  the  Jew  was  a  member  of 
history's  truest  and  noblest  aristocracy. 

3.  Disraeli's  estimate  of  the  Jew  is  to  be  found  in  ''Alroy," 
the  story  of  a  Jewish  dreamer;  in  Coningsby/'  a  political 
novel;  in  "  Tancred/'  and  in  ''The  Life  of  George  Bentinck." 
In  his  preface  to  '' Coningsby  "  he  says:  ''The  author  thought 
the  time  had  arrived  when  some  attempt  should  be  made  to  do 
justice  to  the  race  which  had  founded  Christianity."  The  same 
purpose  runs  through  "  Tancred/'  which  appeared  thirteen  years 
after  "  Coningsby.'' 

4.  Though  defending  Judaism  and  the  Jew,  Disraeli  always 
professed  an  orthodox  Christianity;  but  to  him  that  Christ- 
ianity was  but  liberal  Judaism.  "  Jesus  was  a  great  man,  but  he 
was  a  Jew."  The  Christianity  I  draw  from  your  books  is  not 
the  Christianity  you  practice."  "  Christianity  is  Judaism  for 
the  multitude."  The  same  strain  runs  through  all  his  religious 
and  theological  discussions. 

5.  To  Disraeli  the  Jew  is  great  because  he  belongs  to  a  great 
race,  the  Semite  race.  "  The  Hebrew  is  an  unmixed  race." 
"  An  unmixed  race  of  a  first-rate  organization  are  the  aristoc- 
racy of  nature."  "  You  cannot  destroy  a  pure  race  of  Caucasian 
organization."  "  All  is  race.  There  is  no  other  truth."  But 
there  is  other  truth. 

6.  Misled  by  his  philosophy  of  Jewish  racialism,  Disraeli,  in 
his  effort  to*  have  justice  done  the  Jew,  claims  as  Jews,  many 
great  men  who  have  been  anything  but  Jews.  Is  not  the  disease 
often  a  chronic  one  to-day? 

7.  Yet  in  showing  the  Jewish  character  and  origin  of  much 
that  is  termed  Christian,  and  in  arguing  the  Jewish  character  of 
Christ  himself,  the  author  of  "  Tancred  "  is  at  once  with  the  Best 
liberal  thought  of  to-day,  Christian  and  Jewish. 

8.  Strange  to*  say,  however,  he  is  altogether  lacking  in  exact 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


69 


scientific  knowledge.  He  talks  like  a  parish  clerk,  of  the  great 
scientific  problems  and  ideas  of  his  day." — Brandes.  He  cared 
more  for  sentiment  than  philosophy,  for  imagination  than 
reason.       Mormon  counts  more  votaries  than  Bentham.'' 

9.  Disraeli  loved  the  Orient.  He  always  dreamed  of  it.  His 
dreams  fashioned  some  of  his  political  policies  and  created  some 
of  his  books.      Tancred  "  is  a  dream,  and  a  prophecy. 

10.  As  he  dreamed  he  prophesied,  and,  remarkable  to  relate, 
he  realized  most  of  his  prophecies. 

11.  We  see  in  Tancred  "  how  much  Disraeli  put  himself  into 
his  writings.  We  find  much  of  him  in  Tancred  himself,  much 
in  Eva,  much  in  Fakredeen.  His  characters  are  but  his  mouth- 
pieces. 

12.  Sidonia,  who  helps  Tancred  on  his  way,  and  whom  Baroni 
so  loves,  and  all  so  admire,  plays  a  more  important  part  in 
"  Coningsby  "  than  in  "  Tancred."  Sidoiiia,  brilHant,  but  without 
feeling.  ''x\fifections,"  says  he,  are  the  children  of  ignorance." 
Again  Disraeli. 

13.  Fakredeen,  the  most  original  character  Lord  Beacons- 
field  has  ever  drawn." — Brandes.  His  dream  of  an  Asiatic 
Empire,  like  Disraeli's  dream  of  an  English  Empire. 

14.  The  vision  of  Tancred  at  Sinai,  recalls  the  vision  of  Alroy 
in  the  tomb  of  the  kings. 

15.  ''We  are  Sephardim,"  says  Sidonia,  descendants  of 
Spanish  Jews,  who  became  Marranos,  but  who  when  they  left' 
Spain,  at  once  professed  their  Judaism.  These  are  but  historic 
facts  in  the  life  of  the  Disraeli  family. 

16.  "Tancred"  introduces  us  to  the  land  and  faith  of, Ma- 
homet. When  Mahomet  first  announced  his  new  movement,  he 
found  Httle  response  and  much  ridicule  at  the  hands  of  the 
Jews.  At  once  he  broke  with  Judaism,  and  with  radical  hand  did 
away  with  many  Jewish  features,  that  would  otherwise  have 
found  place  in  the  faith  he  preached. 


70 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


17.  In  view  of  the  present  Roumanian  outrages  against  the 
Jew,  it  is  interesting  to  remember  that  Disraeh  was  responsible 
for  that  clause  in  the  Berlin  treaty  which  gave  Roumania  its 
independence,  on  the  express  condition  that  the  difference  of 
religious  creeds  and  confessions  shall  not  be  alleged  against  any 
person,  as  a  ground  for  exclusion  or  incapacity  in  matters  relat- 
ing to  the  enjoyment  of  civil  and  political  rights,  admission  to 
public  employment,  function  anH  honors,  or  the  exercise  of 
various  professions  and  industries  in  any  locality  whatever." 

18.  Thackeray  burlesques  Disraeli  in  Coningsby "  as  he 
did  Scott  in  "  Rowena  and  Rebecca."  Half  the  Hebrew's  life 
is  a  disguise/'  is  Thackeray's  estimate. 

HI.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

1.  Sum  up  briefly  the  main  facts  in  the  life  of  Disraeli. 

2.  How  did  the  Disraelis  become  Christians? 

3.  What,  despite  baptism,  prompted  Lord  Beaconsfield's  de- 
fence of  the  Jew? 

4.  What  was  that  defence?  What  estimate  do  you  place 
upon  it? 

5.  Describe  the  character  of  Disraeli.  How  did  his  character 
affect  his  writings  and  his  achievements? 

6.  What  must  be  the  relation  between  reason  and  feeling? 

7.  Mention  some  of  the  facts  and  views  in  Tancred  "  that  are 
merely  autobiographical. 

8.  What  prophecies,  first  given  expression  in  his  novels,  did 
Disraeli  later  realize? 

9.  What  do  you  think  of  Disraeli's  high  estimate  of  Jewish 
racialism  in  particular  and  racial  qualities  in  general? 

10.  How  does  the  Jew  look  upon  Jesus? 

11.  What  was  the  relation  between  Mahomet  and  the  Arabian 
Jews  ? 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


71 


IV.    Recommended  Readings. 

Hebrew  Statesmen. 

Hosnier,  "The  Jews,"  294-311. 
Disraeli  writes  of  the  Jew  in: 

Alroy.  (1833). 

Coningsby.  (1844). 

Tancred.  (1847). 

Life  of  George  Bentinck.  (1851). 
Disraeli  as  Dreamer. 

Zangwill,     Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto,"  424-431. 
A  Critical  Estimate  of  Disraeli. 

Froude,  "  The  Earl  of  Beaconsfield,"  254-262. 

Kebbel,  ''  Life  of  Beaconsfield,"  161-206. 

Latimer,  "  England  in  the  XIX.  Century,"  343-372. 

McCarthy,  "  History  of  Our  Own  Times,"  I,  256-275. 

Conway,  ''The  Wandering  Jew,"  295-311. 
Progress  of  the  Jewish  Cause  in  England  During  Disraeli's 
Time. 

McCarthy,  II,  1 10-126. 
The  Congress  of  Berlin. 

McCarthy,  II,  595-613. 
The  Jews  and  Jesus. 

Wise,  "  The  Martyrdom  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth." 

Jacobs,  "  As  Others  Saw  Him." 

Hirsch,  "  The  Crucifixion." 

Croly,  "  Tarry  Thou  Till  I  Come."  Appendix. 

Weinstock,  "  Jesus  the  Jew." 

Krauskopf,  "  A  Rabbi's  Impressions  of  the  Oberammergau 
Passion  Plays." 
Disraeli  Viewed  Through  Jewish  Eyes. 
Brandes,  "  Lord  Beaconsfield." 

R.  Gottheil,  "  Benjamin  Disraeli."  Chautauquan,  April,  1899. 
E.  Lazarus,  "Was  Beaconsfield  a  Representative  Jew?" 
Century,  April,  1882. 


72 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


Mahomet. 

Carlyle,    Heroes  and  Hero  Worship." 
Mahomet  and  the  Jews. 
Graetz,  H,  71-85. 

Sale.      Koran."    Sura  of  the  Cow. 
The  Rechabites. 

Britannica. 
The  Prophecies  of  Disraeli. 

Latimer,  359. 

Brandes,  288-290. 
Thackeray  on  DisraeH. 

Burlesques,  Coningsby." 
The  Religion  of  Disraeli. 

Froude,  165-167. 
The  Jew  in  Europe,  1840-1847  (when    Tancred  "  was  written). 

Graetz,  V,  667-696. 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 

Jehuda  Halevi,     Ode  to  Zion "  (in     Songs  of  Exile,"  by 

Nina  Davis). 
Zangwill,    The  Palestine  Pilgrim." 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


73 


LESSON  IX. 

1.  Required  Reading. 
The  Vale  of  Cedars."    Grace  Aguilar  (1812-1847). 

In  Tancred  "  we  have  a  Jewish  estimate  of  the  Jew,  the  first 
Jewish  estimate  in  Enghsh  fiction.  After  all,  convictions  count. 
Though  Christian  in  name,  Disraeli  was  Jewish  in  thought,  and 
thought  and  belief  in  religion  mean  mxore  than  name.  Jewish 
birth  is  less  than  Jewish  worth. 

In  "  The  Vale  of  Cedars,"  we  are  given  another  Jewish  esti- 
mate of  the  Jew,  but  it  differs  vitall}^  from  that  in  Tancred." 
Disraeli  writes  of  modern  times;  Grace  Aguilar  of  the  past. 
Disraeli  of  the  Orient  and  England;  Grace  Aguilar  of  Spain. 
Necessarily  the  Jews  both  describe,  differ.  Men  do  not  merely 
influence  their  age  and  surroundings.  They  are  in  turn  influ- 
enced by  them.  The  Jew  of  Palestine  is  not  the  Jew  of  Spain, 
though  the  Jew  of  Spain  may  once  have  been  the  Jew  of  Palestine. 
Nor  is  the  Jew  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  Jew  of  the  fifteenth. 
All  Jews  may  be  brothers,  (there  is  a  Jewish  solidarity)  and  there 
may  be  a  Jewish  conservatism.  But  neither  Jewish  solidarity  nor 
Jewish  conservatism  has  been  proof  against  influence  from  with- 
out. The  Jew  has  given  the  world  much,  but  he  has  taken  from 
it  also.  In  some  respects  the  conqueror  has  been  conquered. 
The  Jew  is  to  a  degree  the  product  of  time  and  place,  of  age  and 
circumstance.  Therefore  Marie  and  Eva  are  not  the  same,  though 
both  are  the  creation  of  Jewish  minds. 

But  aside  from  this,  a  waiter  can  put  only  himself  into  his  work. 
Let  him  seek  to  hide  himself  as  he  may,  his  literary  productions 
will  constitute  his  biography.  Emerson  quotes  a  painter  who 
said  no  artist  could  draw  a  tree  without  in  some  sort  becoming 
a  tree."    Disraeli  wrote  himself  into  his  books.    He  could  not 


74 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


help  it.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Grace  Aguilar.  That  is  why 
we  find  the  one  in  Tancred,"  the  other  in  The  \  ale  of  Cedars/' 
Disraeli  believed  a  man  could  do  anything-,  if  he  but  determine^! 
to  do  it,  and  persisted  in  the  determination.  His  own  life  was  the 
most  striking  illustration  of  his  philosophy.  Yet  he  was  a  be- 
liever in  tradition.  The  past  meant  everything  to  him.  He 
reveled  in  that  past  and  when  not  disturbed  by  affairs  of  state, 
lived  in  it. 

Grace  Aguilar,  too,  loved  Israel's  past.  She  grieved  that  her 
coreligionists  did  not  have  a  better  acquaintance  with  that  past. 
She  did  what  she  could  to  develop  that  acquaintance.  She  urged 
the  study  of  Hebrew.  But  with  it  all,  she  was  not  a  traditionalist. 
Indeed,  she  often  claimed  that  tradition  shackled  the  Jewish  mind, 
a  claim  Leeser,  who  edited  her  "  Spirit  of  Judaism  "  and  Jewish 
Faith,"  in  his  editorial  notes,  often  combats.  Certain  it  is,  that 
while  loving  Judaism,  and  upholding  and  defending  it,  she  was  :i 
powerful  champion  of  reform.  She  felt  that  in  England,  at  least, 
the  absence  of  such  reform  denied  the  Jew  an  interest  in  Judaism, 
and  denied  the  Jewess  Judaism  altogether.  For  the  young  man 
in  the  synagogue,  she  argued,  there  were  teachers  and  books ;  for 
the  young  woman,  neither. 

True,  we  do  not  find  all  of  this  in  The  Vale  of  Cedars,"  but  we 
can  understand  the  book  only  as  we  understand  the  writer.  She 
was  loyal  to  her  Judaism.  It  was  her  Judaism.  After  all,  must 
not  Judaism  be  an  individual  matter?  Her  Judaism  may  not  have 
been  your's  or  mine,  but  it  was  a  worthy  Judaism,  and  such  as  it 
was,  she  tried  to  give  it  to  others,  and  make  it  part  of  them  as  it 
was  of  her.  It  meant  much  to  her.  She  earnestly  and  sincerely 
worked  to  make  it  mean  as  much  to  others. 

The  Vale  of  Cedars  "  is  a  story  of  Jewish,  or  rather  Marrano 
life  in  Spain  during  the  fifteenth  century.  For  the  student  of 
Jewish  history,  Spain  has  an  indescribable  charm.  For  there  the 
Jew  lived  long  and  achieved  much.    He  came  to  Spain  most  likely 


\ 


Jewish  Cttaractrrs  in  Fiction 


75 


during  the  time  of  the  Roman  RepubUc.  He  came  as  a  freeman, 
but  as  soon  as  Christianity  became  influential  there,  he  began  to 
suffer.  The  coming  of  the  Mohammedans  was  for  him  a  bless- 
ing. For  four  centuries  and  more  (710-1150)  he  lived  in  Para- 
dise. Then  began  the  Almohade  Dynasty,  and  again  the  Jew 
suffered.  Gradually  Catholic  power  grew  in  Spain.  The  Jew 
hoped  and  prayed  that  its  growth  might  mean  peace  for  him. 
For  a  time  his  prayer  was  answered  and  his  hope  realized,  but 
only  for  a  time.  Mediaeval  Christianity  was  sincere,  but  narrow, 
fanatical  and  bigoted.  So  long  as  it  had  other  political  forces 
with  which  to  contend,  it  overlooked  the  Jew,  or  looked  to  him 
merely  for  financial  aid.  Ihit  when  it  was  mistress  of  all  it  sur- 
veyed, the  Jew  could  prepare  for  the  worst.  First  the  Jew  was 
persecuted.  Then  he  was  given  the  choice  of  conversion  or  con- 
fiscation. And  finally  the  alternative  was  presented  to  him:  exile 
or  death.  To  prevent  confiscation  and  escape  death,  many  Jews 
feigned  conversion.  These  were  the  Marranos.  The  climax 
came  when  in  1492,  twelve  years  after  the  Inquisition  was  estab- 
lished, and  the  very  year  when  Columbus,  through  Jewish  instru- 
mentality, went  forth  on  his  epoch  making  voyage,  the  Jew\s  of 
Spain,  to  the  number  of  about  300,000,  were  exiled  from  the  home 
they  had  so  long  known,  but  would  not  be  permitted  to  re-enter 
until  1868. 

Such  a  history  cannot  help  interesting  one  to  whom  Judaism 
and  the  Jew  are  of  any  concern.  It  interested  Disraeli.  His  own 
ancestors  had  contributed  to  the  making  of  that  history.  It  inter- 
ested Grace  Aguilar,  too.  While  yet  a  child,  she  studied  it  under 
her  father's  guidance.  And  had  not  the  Aguilars  centuries  back, 
suffered  in  Portugal  as  did  the  Jews  in  Spain,  and  for  the  same 
reasons  ?  In  these  facts  The  Vale  of  Cedars  "  must  have  found 
its  beginnings. 

If  we  are  critical  we  shall  find  some  historical  inaccuracies. 
We  shall  be  able,  too,  to  pick  flaws  in  the  literary  style.    It  will 


76 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


not  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  prove  here  and  there  inconsis- 
tency. But  what  matter  all  this?  Grace  Aguilar  was  but  thirty- 
five  years  of  age  wdien  she  passed  away.  She  gave  her  very  life 
to  the  Jewish  cause.  She  stood  up  for  it  and  wrote  for  it  in  sick- 
ness and  in  pain.  To  the  last  she  was  its  ardent  champion.  She 
died  in  1847,  but  her  influence  still  lives. 

II.  Suggestions. 

1.  "The  Vale  of  Cedars"  was  written  in  1835,  but  was  not 
published  until  1850.  It  was  translated  tv/ice  into  Hebrew  and 
twice  into  German. 

2.  Grace  Aguilar  w^as  herself  descended  from  Marranos,  who 
came  to  England  from  Portugal  during  the  i8th  century.  This 
fact  naturally  interested  her  in  Marrano  life  in  Spain. 

3.  In  612,  Sisebut,  king  of  the  Visigoths,  gave  the  Jews  in  his 
kingdom  the  alternative  of  being  baptized  or  exiled.  Many  left, 
but  many  became  lip  converts.  After  the  death  of  Sisebut,  those 
converts  returned  to  Judaism.  Grace  Aguilar  says  this  was  the 
beginning  of  the  Marranos.  The  Marranos  of  Spain  were  born 
of  the  terrible  persecution  of  the  Jews  in  1391. 

4.  Though  virtually  Jewish,  and  though  Jews  were  hated,  many 
Marranos  occupied  the  highest  offices  in  Castile  and  Aragon.  Luis 
Sanchez  w^as  president  of  the  highest  tribunal  of  Aragon;  Gabriel 
Sanchez  was  chief  treasurer ;  Alfonso  Sanchez,  deputy  treasurer ; 
Guillen  Sanchez,  cup  bearer  and  later  royal  treasurer ;  Francisco 
Giu'rca,  governor;  Miqucl  de  Almazan,  private  secretary  to  the 
king.  The  royal  house  always  borrowed  from  the  Santangels, 
who  were  very  prominent.    Kayserling  calls  Luis  de  Santangel 

The  Beaconsfield  of  Spain." 

5.  On  p.  32,  Grace  Aguilar  says  that  the  wealth  of  Ferdinand 
Morales  was  ever  nt  the  service  of  cither  Isabella  or  her  be- 
trothed ;  he  it  was  from  whom  the  necessary  means  for  her  private 
nuptials  were  borrowed."    A  Jew  of  Segovia,  named  Don  Abra- 


Jewish  Ciiar.vcters  in  Fiction 


77 


ham  Senior,  stood  high  in  the  estimation  of  Ferdinand,  and 
arranged  his  first  meeting  with  Isabella  at  Toledo.  Being  penni- 
less, Ferdinand  borrowed  20,000  sueldos  for  his  trip,  from  Jaime 
Ram,  the  son  of  a  rabbi. 

6.  The  Inquisition  was  first  suggested  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Spanish  clergy  in  1478.  Isabella  counseled  easier  measures.  But 
Ferdinand  at  once  approved.  The  confiscation  of  the  possessions 
of  the  victims  w^ould  fill  his  cofifers.  That  was  all  he  cared  for. 
The  Inquisition  w^as  born  not  of  religious  zeal  but  of  material 
greed. 

7.  Ferdinand  was  not  the  Ferdinand  of  The  Vale  of  Cedars/' 
but  the  Isabella  of  Grace  Aguilar,  though  exaggerated,  is  nearer 
the  truth.  The  first  Tribunal  of  the  Inquisition  was  established  in 
Seville  in  1487.  Torquemada  was  made  Inquisitor  General  by 
Sixtus  IV,  in  1483.  There  was  much  objection  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  but  it  was  soon  overcome.  It  was  due  to  the  influence  of 
Isabella,  that  the  Inquisition  did  not  begin  its  work  in  Castile, 
until  tv/o  years  after  the  Pope  had  given  his  permission. 

8.  h^inding  appeal  in  vain,  a  number  of  prominent  Jews  slew 
one  of  the  inquisitors,  in  1485.  This  incident  is  said  to  have 
made  the  queen  favor  the  Inquisition. 

g.  Columbus  came  to  Spain  in  1485,  but  was  given  scanty  atten- 
tion. In  1492,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  gave  him  a  favorable  hear- 
ing, but  his  requests  were  so  extravagant  that  he  was  again  dis- 
missed, and  left  Granada  to  go  to  France.  Thereupon,  Luis  de 
Santangel,  a  Jew,  persuaded  the  queen  to  favor  the  journey  of 
Columbus,  and  advanced  out  of  his  own  pocket  the  necessary 
funds,  17,000  florins.  Columbus  was  ordered  to  equip  his  fleet, 
on  April  30,  the  day  the  decree  expelling  the  Jews  from  Spain, 
was  publicly  announced. 

10.  Jews  accompanied  Columbus  on  his  voyage  to  America.  His 
interpreter  was  a  Jew,  Luis  de  Torres;  so  was  his  surgeon,  Mar- 
cos, and  his  ship  physician,  IMaestre  Bernal. 


78 


The  Chautauqua  Systeim  of  Education 


11.  In  view  of  Ferdinancrs  attitude  toward  the  Jews,  it  is  inter- 
esting to  remember  that  his  grandmother  was  Juana  Enriquez, 
the  grand-daughter  of  Paloma,  a  Jewess  of  Toledo. 

12.  After  the  edict  had  been  issued,  expelhng  the  Jews  from 
Spain,  Isaac  Abravanel,  who  had  been  treasurer  of  Portugal,  and 
who  later  entered  the  service  of  Ferdinand,  ofifered  the  king 
30,000  ducats  to  revoke  the  edict.  It  is  said,  Ferdinand  might 
hav^  yielded,  had  not  Torquemada  interfered. 

13.  The  establishment  of  the  Inquisition  and  the  expulsion 
of  the  Jews  had  the  same  aim,  the  former  to  secure  the  posses- 
sions of  the  Marranos,  the  latter. to  secure  the  property  of  those 
who  openly  professed  their  Judaism. 

III.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

1.  Give  the  main  facts  in  the  life  of  Grace  Aguilar. 

2.  Why  did  she  write  almost  exclusively  on  Jewish  subjects? 

3.  Who  were  the  Marranos? 

4.  Give  a  brief  outline  of  the  history  of  tlie  Jews  in  Spain. 

5.  What  v/as  the  conditions  of  the  Jews  in  Spain  during  the 
reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella? 

6.  What  was  the  Inquisition? 

7.  Why  did  Ferdinand  favor  it?  How  did  Isabella  look  upon 
it?    Explain  her  attitude. 

8.  What  part  did  Jews  play  in  the  final  success  of  Columbus  in 
the  discovery  of  America? 

9.  Who  was  Isaac  Abravanel? 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 

Grace  Aguilar. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia. 

Memoir,  prefixed  to  "  Vale  of  Cedars.'' 

Morals,  ''Eminent  Israelites  of  the  19th  Century,"  12-15. 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


79 


Jews  in  Spain. 

Graetz,  III,  214-241. 
IV,  308-457- 

Kayserling,  "  Christopher  Columbus/'  translated  by  Charles 
Gross. 

Lindo,    Jews  in  Spain  and  Portugal." 
The  Inquisition. 

Mocatta,  "  Inquisition  and  Judaism." 
Graetz,  IV,  308-334. 
Kayserling,  30-40. 

Adler,  "Auto  da  Fe,"  Jewish  Quarterly  Review,  XIII,  392, 
Jewish  Encyclopedia,     Auto  da  Fe." 
Lea,     History  of  the  Inquisition." 
Prescott,  "  Ferdinand  and  Isabella." 

Reinach,     The  Inquisition  and  the  Jews,"  Jewdsh  Comment, 
Aug.  23-Sept  6,  1901. 

Britannica. 
The  Marranos. 

Graetz,  IV,  Index. 

Kayserling,  22-31. 
The  Jews  and  Columbus. 

Kayserlmg,  1-21,  41  f. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia,  America." 
Isaac  Abra\anel. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia. 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 

Aguilar,    Song  of  the  Spanish  Jews,"  in  Appendix  to  "  Spirit  of 

Judaism." 
Lazarus,  1492." 

An  Epistle." 
Longfellow,  Torquemad'a." 


8o  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


LESSON  X. 
I  I.    Required  Reading. 

Daniel  Deronda."  George  Eliot  (1808-1880). 
Like  Disraeli  in  her  interest  in  Jewish  history,  and  resembling 
him  somewhat  in  his  theory  of  tradition  and  racialism ;  like  Grace 
Aguilar  in  her  interest  in  modern  Jev/ish  life,  but  greater  than 
both  in  her  psychological  grasp  of  Jewish  character,  was  George 
Eliot,  who  in  1876  wrote  Daniel  Deronda/'  To  say  this  book 
had  a  curious  reception,  is  putting  it  mildly.  Its  author  had  al- 
ways made  it  a  point  to  read  only  such  literary  references  to  her- 
self and  her  books,  as  her  husband  judged  would  interest  her 
Even  this  did  not  permit  her  to  remain  ignorant  of  the  harsh  criti- 
cisms directed  against  this  her  last  book,  and  particularly  against 
its  consideration  of  Jewish  life.  The  Jewish  element  seems 
likely  to  satisfy  nobody,''  she  wrote  in  her  "  Journal,"  April  12, 
1876.  And  again,  December  i,  the  same  year:  Since  Septem- 
ber I  have  been  made  aware  of  much  repugnance,  or  else  indiffer- 
ence, toward  the  Jewish  part  of  Deronda."  And  in  a  letter  to 
Prof.  Kaufman,  of  Buda-Pesth,  May  31,  1877:  ''Though  the 
prejudice  and  ignorant  obtuseness  which  has  met  my  effort  to  con- 
tribute something  to  the  ennobling  of  Judaism  in  the  conception  of 
tlie  Jewish  community,  has  never  for  a  moment  made  me  repent 
my  choice,  but  rather  has  been  added  proof  to  me  that  the  effort 
has  been  needed,  yet  I  confess  that  I  had  an  unsatisfied  hunger  for 
certain  signs  of  sympathetic  discernment  which  you  only  have 
given.'' 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  absence  of  this  ''  sympathetic  discern- 
ment," for  w^hich  George  Eliot  hungered,  was  altogether  a  sur- 
prise to  her.  She  had  anticipated  it.  She  knew  the  world  did  not 
know  or  understand  the  Jew,  and  she  knew  for  a  long  time  it 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction  8l 

would  not  understand  or  appreciate  Mordecai.  But  it  was  just 
these  conditions  that  prompted  her  to  write  her  Daniel  De- 
ronda/'  As  to  the  Jewish  element  in  Deronda/'  she  wrote  to 
Mrs.  H.  B.  Stowe,  October  29,  1876,  I  expected  from  first  to 
last  in  writing  it,  that  it  would  create  much  stronger  resistance, 
and  even  repulsion,  than  it  has  actually  met  with.  But  precisely 
because  I  felt  that  the  usual  attitude  of  Christians  toward  Jews 
is — 1  hardly  know  whether  to  say  more  impious  or  more  stupid 
when  viewed  in  the  light  of  their  professed  principles,  I  therefore 
felt  urged  to  treat  Jews  with  such  sympathy  and  understanding, 
as  my  nature  and  knowledge  could  attain  to  .  .  .  There  is 
nothing  I  should  care  more  to  do,  if  it  w^ere  possible,  than  to 
arouse  the  imagination  of  men  and  women,  to  a  vision  of  human 
claims  in  those  races  of  their  fellowmen,  who  most  differ  from 
them  in  customs  and  belief.  But  towards  the  Hebrews,  we  west- 
ern people  who  have  been  reared  in  Christianity,  have  a  peculiar 
debt,  and  whether  we  acknowledge  it  or  not,  a  peculiar  thorough- 
ness of  fehowship  in  religious  and  moral  sentiment.  Can  any- 
thing be  more  disgusting  than  to  hear  people  called  '  educated ' 
making  small  jokes  about  eating  ham,  and  showing  themselves 
empty  of  any  real  knowledge,  as  to  the  relation  of  their  own  so- 
cial and  religious  life,  to  the  history  of  the  people  they  think 
themselves  witty  in  insulting?  .  .  To  my  feeling,  this  deadness 
to  the  history  which  has  prepared  half  our  world  for  us,  this  ina- 
bility to  find  interest  in  any  form  of  life  that  is  not  clad  in  the 
same  coat-tails  and  flounces  as  our  own,  lies  very  close  to  the 
worst  kind  of  irreligion.  The  best  that  can  be  said  of  it  is,  that  it 
is  a  sign  of  the  intellectual  narrowness,  in  plain  English,  the  stu- 
pidity, which  is  still  the  average  mark  of  our  culture.  ...  I 
sum  up  with  the  writer  of  the  Book  of  Maccabees:  '  If  I  have 
done  well  and  as  befits  the  subject,  it  is  what  I  desired,  and  if 
I  have  done  ill  it  is  what  I  could  attain  to.'  " 

These  words  give  us  an  insight  into  George  Eliot's  attitude 


82  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 

toward  the  Jew.  They  show  us  why  she  wrote  Daniel  De- 
ronda  "  and  why  she  pictured  its  Jewish  characters  as  she  did. 
They  prove  her  to  have  been  "  without  prejudice/'  and  brave 
enough  to  champion  a  cause  she  beheved  just  and  right,  whatever 
the  consequences. 

George  EHot  studied  Jewish  history  and  Jewish  Hfe.  She  was 
not  content  with  mere  superficial  observation.  That  observation 
had  been  sufficient  for  Marlowe  and  Sheridan  and  Thackeray  and 
Dickens.  It  was  not  enough  for  George  Eliot.  She  insisted  on 
getting  beneath  the  surface.  She  was  not  satisfied  with  seeing. 
She  wanted  to  understand,  and  understanding  means  study,  and 
long  and  patient  study.  George  Eliot  was  nothing  if  not  a  stu- 
dent. She  was  not  expert  in  her  every  line  of  study,  but  nothing 
left  her  hands  that  did  not  bespeak  honest  and  patient  research. 
Others  stood  aloof  from  the  Jew.  If  they  spoke  of  him  it  was  of 
his  appearance.  Of  his  real  home  life  and  thought  life  they  knew 
nothing.  They  did  not  write  to  do  him  justice.  They  did  not  care 
to  do  him  justice.  But  George  Eliot  gave  herself  to  the  study  of 
the  Jew,  honestly,  impartially,  and  in  view  of  his  lowly  position 
sympathetically.  She  penetrated  beneath  his  hard  exterior  and 
she  found  the  treasure  within. 

If  Dickens,"  she  wrote  in  her  essay  on  The  Natural  History 
of  German  Life,"  could  give  us  their  (city  folks)  psychological 
character — their  conception  of  life  and  their  emotions,  with  the 
same  truth  as  their  idiom  and  their  manners,  his  books  would  be 
the  greatest  contribution  art  has  ever  made  to  the  awakening  of 
social  sympathies."  But  that  is  just  where  Dickens  was  weak 
and  George  Eliot  herself  strong.  He  was  the  more  imaginative 
of  the  two,  but  he  lacked  the  power  of  psychological  analysis  that 
was  her's.  Scott  could  project  himself  better  into  the  past.  His 
"  Ivanhoe  "  is  a  remarkable  illustration  of  this  ability.  But  Scott 
could  not  analyze  and  interpret  character  as  could  George  Eliot. 
That  is  why  Mordecai,  misunderstood  as  he  has  always  been,  is 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


83 


more  truly  Jewish  than  Rebecca,  and  Fagin,  and  even  Riah.  It 
takes  a  Jew  to  understand  a  Jew.  But  George  EUot  understood 
him,  though  no  Jewish  blood  coursed  through  her  veins. 

Leeser  complained  that  Grace  Aguilar  underestimated  tradi- 
tion. George  Eliot  overestimated  it.  She  was  a  firm  believer  in 
heredity.  In  "  The  Spanish  Gypsy  she  puts  these  words  into 
the  mouth  of  the  Prior : 

What !   Shall  the  trick  of  nostrils  and  of  lips 
Descend  through  generations,  and  the  soul, 
That  moves  within  our  frame  like  God  in  worlds, 
Convulsing,  urging,  melting,  withering, 
Imprint  no  record,  leave  no  documents, 
Of  her  great  history?" 

Now  the  Jew  has  inherited  a  glorious  past,  a  past  to  remember, 
for  our  finest  hope  is  finest  memory."  It  is  the  source  of  all  that 
is  moral  and  spiritual  in  life.  Tradition  has  made  the  Jew.  There- 
fore it  is  for  him  to  keep  that  tradition  alive,  and  since  that  tradi- 
tion is  a  national  one,  the  duty  of  the  Jew  lies  in  resurrecting  his 
Jewish  nationality.  The  preservation  of  national  memories  is 
an  element  and  a  means  of  national  greatness,  and  their  revival  a 
sign  of  reviving  nationality.''  Each  nation  has  its  own  work  to 
do,  its  own  contributions  to  make  to  world  life.  Now  Israel  is 
still  a  nation,  though  a  nation  without  a  political  home  of  its 
own,  without  a  thorough  recognition  of,  or  a  loyalty  to,  its  national 
ideas  and  ideals,  its  national  tradition,  its  national  inheritance. 
Let,  therefore,  a  Jewish  state  arise.  Let  Jewish  nationality  live 
again.  The  Jew  will  then  do  his  best,  and  in  that  best  the  whole 
world  will  be  blessed. 

This  reasoning  runs  through  Daniel  Deronda,''  The  Impres- 
sions of  Theophrastus  Such "  and  The  Spanish  Gypsy."  It 
made  George  Eliot  a  loyal  Zionist,  but  its  repetition  at  times  threat- 
ens to  become  as  monotonous,  as  in  parts  it  is  untrue.  No  one 
denies  the  influence  of  heredity  and  tradition.  But  there  are  plenty 


84 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


who  will  deny  both  unlimited  influence,  as  there  will  be  plenty 
to  deny  that  the  necessary  result  of  their  influence,  will  be  the 
resurrection  of  nationalities  that  have  long  gone  to  their  graves. 
Indeed,  to  many  it  appears  that  the  fusion  of  differing  nationali- 
ties has  not  been  a  curse  but  a  blessing.  At  least  England  and  the 
United  States  are  not  the  weakest  countries  in  the  world.  George 
Eliot  seems  to  have  caught  the  distant  whisper  of  this  truth.  The 
tendency  of  things  is  toward  quicker  or  slower  fusion  of  races. 
It  is  impossible  to  arrest  this  tendency"  (Thcophrastus  Such). 
Would  George  Eliot  bewail  this  fusion,  or  distinguish  between  a 
nation  and  a  race  ?  At  any  rate,  with  her,  tradition  is  everything. 
What  under  the  circumstances  she  believes  to  be  the  power  of 
personality,  it  is  difficult  to  determine.  Disraeli  exaggerated  the 
importance  of  race ;  yet  he  felt  the  individual  could  do  anything. 
But  if  tradition  is  to  determine  a  man's  life,  what  can  he  deter- 
mine? Surely  he  does  not  fashion  his  own  tradition.  Does  he 
mould  it?  Shakespeare  felt  that  a  man  would  be  true  to  others 
if  he  were  true  to  himself.  George  Eliot  seems  to  think  a 
man  will  be  true  to  himself  only  if  he  is  true  to  tradition.  Is  not 
the  reverse  more  reasonable  ? 

Despite  the  undue  stress  laid  upon  heredity  and  tradition, 
George  Eliot  may  be  said  to  have  created  the  Jew  in  English 
Fiction.''  Cumberland  drew  a  good  Jew,  Sheva.  Scott  pictured 
a  beautiful  Jewess,  Rebecca.  Dickens  painted  an  angel  almost, 
Eiah.  But  George  Eliot  gave  us  the  first  real  Jew.  She  was  the 
first  to  find  the  Jew  as  he  was,  not  merely  as  he  appeared.  She 
studied  him  from  within,  not  merely  from  without.  She  fathomed 
the  depths  of  his  real  life. 

II.  Suggestions. 

I.  Dickens  gave  us  a  bad  Jew  and  a  good  Jew.  George  Eliot 
gives  us  a  true  Jew.  Her  Jewish  characters  are  not  overdrawn 
and  are  not  impossible. 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


85 


2.  In  presenting  such  dififerent  types  of  Jewish  character  (Mor- 
decai,  Mirah,  Klesmer,  Ezra  Cohen,  Kalonymos,  Gideon,  Lapi- 
doth),  George  EHot  at  once  gives  the  He  to  the  charge  that  all  Jews 
are  alike.    There  are  Jews  and  Jews. 

3.  Daniel  Deronrla  "  is  composed  of  two  parts,  the  one  center- 
ing in  Gwendolen  Harleth,  the  other  in  Mordecai.  The  one  is  a 
study  of  English  social  life,  the  other  of  Jewish  life.  Deronda  is 
the  connecting  link. 

4.  The  book  has  other  purposes  than  merely  to  speak  a  good 
word  for  the  Jew,  defend  him,  or  do  him  justice.  It  aims  to  show 
that  heredity  is  stronger  than  environment,  and  that  reverence  for 
and  obedience  to-  tradition,  beget  a  life  vastly  superior  to  that 
which  knows  no  such  tradition.  Therefore,  Gwendolen  and 
Grandcourt  are  really  contrasted  with  Mordecai  and  Mirah. 

5.  The  book  at  once  attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention.  The 
critics  almost  without  exception  condemned  its  Jewish  element, 
and  declared  Mordecai  unnatural  and  impossible.  Jews,  of  course, 
praised  it  highly.  George  Eliot  was  not  altogether  satisfied  with 
it  herself.  She  knew  she  had  done  her  sincere  best,  but  she  did 
not  feel  it  was  a  satisfactory  expression  of  what  she  wanted  to  say. 

6.  George  Eliot  is  usually  witty  and  humorous,  though  she  was 
essentially  a  serious  woman.  Daniel  Deronda  "  has  scarcely  a 
humorous  situation  or  word.  The  question  at  once  suggests  it- 
self: Did  our  author  think  humor  foreign  to  the  Jew? 

7.  In  the  Fortnightly  Rcviczv  of  April,  1866,  G.  H.  Lewes  de- 
scribes a  club  very  similar  to  the  Hand  and  Banner  Club,"  and 
a  Jew,  Ezra  Cohen,  from  whom  Joseph  Jacobs  first  suggested, 
George  Eliot  drew  her  Mordecai.  In  private  conversation,  how- 
ever, Lewes  often  said  that  no  such  resemblance  existed,  Cohen 
being  a  keen  dialectician  and  a  highly  impressive  man,  but  without 
any  specifically  Jewish  enthusiasm."  Mordecai  yearned  for  the 
political  regeneration  of  Israel ;  Cohen  was  but  an  enthusiastic 
worshiper  of  Spinoza. 


86  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


8.  Joseph  Jacobs  compares  Mordecai  to  Emanuel  Deutsch 
(1829-1873),  who  laid  down  his  life  for  the  regeneration  of  our 
views  of  Israel's  past,  as  Mordecai  sacrificed  his  for  the  elevation 
of  our  hopes  of  Israel's  future."  ("Jewish  Ideals,"  70.)  Emma 
Lazarus  goes  still  further  and  ventures  the  conjecture  that  it  was 
Emanuel  Deutsch  that  suggested  Mordecai  to  George  Eliot. 
{Century,  II,  50.) 

9.  Mordecai  has  been  variously  estimated.  Curiously  unreal, 
shadowy,  puppet-like,  lifeless."  Mrs.  Linton.  A  probable  char- 
acter portrayed  with  realistic  touch."  Cooke.  "  Carved  of  the 
wood  from  which  prophets  are  made,  he  is  one  of  the  most  diffi- 
cult, as  well  as  one  of  the  most  successful  essays  in  psychological 
analysis,  ever  attempted  by  an  author."  Kaufman,  in  general,  it 
may  be  said,  Jewish  critics  have  found  Mordecai  a  remarkable 
character  and  a  real  Jew,  while  non-Jewish  critics  have  practically 
proclaimed  him  a  monstrosity.  We  may  depend  on  it,  a  Jew  can 
best  understand  a  Jew. 

10.  Observe  that  George  Eliot  speaks  highly  of  Judaism,  but 
commends  loyalty  to  tradition.  She  scarcely  practiced  what  she 
preached,  for  she  broke  with  all  her  past.  Her's  was  the  so-called 
"  Religion  of  Humanity."  She  denied  a  God  and  immortality. 
The  only  reality  to  her  was  duty.  We  can  find  more  religion  in 
George  Eliot's  words  than  she  herself  dreamed  she  was  putting 
there."  (Lanier,  The  English  Novel,  218.)  She  wrote  with  a 
purpose,  and  her  works  exert  a  strong  moral  influence.  She 
rouses  and  stimulates. 

11.  Klesmer,  a  musician  through  and  through.  So  Mirah.  The 
Jew  is  notorious  for  his  musical  ability  and  temperament. 

12.  To  explain  George  Eliot's  knowledge  of  things  Jewish,  some 
one  has  suggested  that  her  husband,  Mr.  Lewes,  was  a  Jew.  It 
has  also  been  suggested  that  she  had,  as  personal  friend,  some 
Jew  enthusiastically  interested  in  Zionism. 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


87 


13.  Latimer  (England  in  the  XIX  Century,  348,  and  note)  ven- 
tures the  assertion  that  the  character  of  Deronda's  mother  was 
suggested  by  Lord  Beaconsfield's  grandmother — proud,  and 
ashamed  of  her  faith. 

14.  Ezra  Cohen  loves  his  mother.  Mordecai  and  Mirah  retain 
the  tenderest  recollections  of  their  home.  All  reverence  Mordecai. 
Are  not  these  Jewish  characteristics? 

15.  George  Eliot  and  Goethe,  the  only  two  writers  who  had  a 
union  of  the  scientific  and  literary  or  artistic  temperaments.  George 
Eliot  was  'genius  and  culture.' (McCarthy,  Hist,  of  Our  Own 
Times,  II,  650.)  George  Eliot  had  a  knowledge  of  the  latest  con- 
clusions of  science,  and  she  used  that  knowledge  in  her  literary 
work. 

III.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

1.  How  did  George  Eliot  become  interested  in  Jewish  life? 

2.  What  was  the  purpose  of    Daniel  Deronda?  " 

3.  How  was  the  book  received,  and  why? 

4.  What  was  the  reasoning  that  made  George  Eliot  a  Zionist? 

5.  What  do  you  think  of  Mordecai? 

6.  Can  you  name  any  of  the  originals  of  the  characters  in  Dan- 
iel Deronda? 

7.  Show  why  George  Eliot  must  have  known  more  of  Jewish 
life  than  other  writers  who  tried  to  picture  the  Jew. 

8.  Compare  Mirah  and  Rebecca.  (Ivanhoe.) 

9.  Compare  Mirah  and  Gwendolen. 

10.  What  distinguishes  a  Jew  from  a  non-Jew  ? 

11.  Is  Deronda's  interest  in  Judaism,  when  told  of  his  Jewish 
birth,  natural  ? 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 
George  Eliot  on  "  The  Jew." 

Kaufman,    George  Eliot  and  Judaism."    Translated  by  Fer- 


88 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


Mordecai. 

Jacobs,  ''Jewish  Ideals,"  61-83. 

Dowden,    Studies  in  Literature,''  294-305. 
Zionism. 

For  :  Zangwill,  Lippincotfs  Magazine,  October,  1899. 

Leslie's  Monthly^  December,  1901. 

Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto,"  430-440,  525-537. 
Henrietta  Szold,    Maccabaean,"  Nov.,  1901. 
Felsenthal,    Hebrew  Union  College  Journal,"  Dec,  1899 
G.  Gottheil,  ''  Hebrew  Union  College  Journal,"  Dec,  1899. 
C.  Levias,     Year  Book  Central  Conference  of  American 

Rabbis,"  1899. 
M.  P.  Mendes,    Book  of  the  Judsens,"  Nov.,  1897. 
R.  Gottheil,  ''  Book  of  the  Judseans,"  Nov.,  1897. 
Against:  K.  Kohler,    Book  of  the  Judseans,"  Nov.,  1897. 
M.  H.  Harris,  ''  Book  of  the  Judeeans,"  Nov.,  1897. 
Berkowitz,    Year  Book,  C.  C.  A.  R.,"  1899. 
Sale,  "  Year  Book,  C.  C.  A.  R.,"  1899. 
I.  M.  Wise,  H.  U.  C.  Journal,  Dec,  1899. 
G.  Deutsch,  H.  U.  C.  Journal,  Dec,  1899. 
L,  Grossman,  H.  U.  C.  Journal,  Dec,  1899. 

Beaulieu,     Israel  Among  the  Nations,"  335-357. 
Some  Aspects  of  the  Jewish  Question  "  by  a  Quarterly 
Reviewer. 

Zionism  in  America. 

M.  J.  Kohler,    Some  Early  American  Zionist  Projects,"  Pub- 
lications of  the  American  Jewish  Historical  Society,  No.  8. 

A  Critical  Estimate  of    Daniel  Deronda." 
Magnus,    Jewish  Portraits,"  83-99. 
Lanier,    The  English  Novel,"  252-287. 
McCarthy,    History  of  Our  Own  Times,"  II,  649-651. 
Cooke,    George  Eliot,"  336-354;  391-412. 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


89 


Blind,    George  Eliot,"  254-271. 
Dowden,  273-310. 
Stephen,    George  Eliot.'' 
Browning,  "  George  Eliot." 
George  Eliot  on  "  Daniel  Deronda." 
Cooke,  351-352. 

Cross,    George  Eliot,"  III,  193-21 1. 
Gwendolen  Harleth. 

Howells,    Heroines  of  Fiction,"  II,  79-93. 
Religion  of  George  Eliot. 

Cooke,  11-23;  221-280. 
Philosophy  of  George  Eliot. 

Cooke,  166-220. 
George  Eliot  speaks  of  the  Jew  in 

"  Daniel  Deronda." 
The  Impressions  of  Theophratus  Such." 

"  The  Spanish  Gypsy." 

The  Death  of  Mosoe." 
Daniel  Deronda :  A  Conversation,"  by  Henry  James,  Sr.,  in 
Atlantic  Monthly,  Dec,  1876,  gives  a  splendid  idea  of  the  reception 
which  the  book  met  on  its  appearance. 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 
Eliot,    The  Death  of  Moses." 

Gordon,    Towards  the  Sunrise,"  in    Daughters  of  Shem." 


go  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


LESSON  XI. 

1.    Required  Reading. 
''The  Dance  to  Death."    Emma  Lazarus  (1849-1887). 

In  his  essay  on  "  Race  and  Tradition,"  Darmesteter  quotes 
Renan  as  saying,  "  There  is  a  psychology  of  religious  minorities 
independent  of  race."  The  thought  represents  the  conclusion  at 
which  Renan  arrived,  after  an  examination  of  the  history  of 
Israel.  Here  was  a  people  that,  in  the  course  of  time,  had  lost 
whatever  of  racial  purity  it  may  once  have  possessed,  yet  still 
it  lived  healthy  and  strong,  a  religious  brotherhood,  whose  mem- 
bers were  bound  to  each  other  not  by  the  ties  of  blood,  but  by 
similarity  of  belief,  and  aims,  and  ideals. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  position  of  Renan  met  with  more 
attack  than  defence.  Even  to-day  many  insist  on  the  racial  char- 
acter of  the  Jew.  In  general,  however,  Renan's  view  has  found 
ready  acceptance.  There  is  no  Jewish  face.  The  Jew  is  Jew  by 
virtue  of  his  faith  alone.  It  is  Judaism  that  makes  the  Jew,  as  the 
Jew  once  made  Judaism.  Conviction,  not  birth,  determines  a 
man's  religion. 

Yet  ever  and  anon  we  meet  with  a  case  like  that  of  Emma  Laza- 
rus, and  then  we  are  puzzled.  She  was  born  in  1849  of  Jewish 
parents,  yet  for  thirty  years  and  more  she  knew  nothing  of  Juda- 
ism. She  knew  not  for  what  it  stood.  She  knew  not  its  princi- 
ples, so  she  had  no  Jewish  convictions.  To  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses she  was  not  Jewish.  Yet  when  the  cry  of  the  suffering  Jew 
in  distant  Russia  reached  her,  it  stirred  her  whole  being.  From 
that  day  she  dedicated  her  life  to  the  cause  of  Israel.  What  was 
there  about  the  cry  from  beyond  the  seas,  that  should  have  wrought 
such  a  revolution  in  her?  What  was  there  about  herself  that  made 
her  so  respond  to  that  cry?"  It  was  more  than  mere  so-called  hu- 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


91 


manitarianism.  Emma  Lazarus  rose  to  the  occasion  because 
there  was  something  Jewish  in  her.  Judaism  is  a  matter  of  con- 
viction. Can  there  be  a  latent  Judaism  that  needs  but  be  stirred 
to  awaken  to  active  Hfe? 

Explain  it  as  you  will,  Emma  Lazarus  henceforth  was  ardent 
champion  of  her  faith  and  her  people.  She  wept  over  Israel's 
sorrows.  She  denounced  Israel's  foes.  She  gave  new  life  to 
Israel's  hopes.  She  sang  of  Israel's  trials  and  of  its  triumphs,  of 
its  past  and  of  its  future,  but  always  of  Israel.  It  was  as  though 
she  were  trying  to  make  recompense  for  her  earlier  years,  when 
Judaism  was  to  her  but  a  relic  of  bygone  days,  and  the  Jew 
merely  a  survival  of  antiquity.  If  that  was  her  aim,  she  suc- 
ceeded. She  made  Judaism  a  part  of  herself.  She  made  herself 
a  part  of  her  people.    And  both  were  the  better  for  it. 

And  it  was  this  new  covenant,  this  dedication  of  her  life  to  a 
cause,  for  whose  welfare  she  labored  heart  and  soul,  that  made 
the  poems  of  Emma  Lazarus  palpitate  with  life.  She  had  writ- 
ten pretty  poems  in  earlier  days.  But  their's  was  a  beauty 
without  a  purpose.  She  had  written  sadly  of  sad  topics.  But 
the  sadness  was  not  born  of  experience,  so  it  lacked  the  power 
to  appeal.  It  was  not  until  she  really  felt,  that  she  could  write 
to  make  others  feel,  not  until  she  was  aroused,  that  she  could 
rouse  others. 

Into  her  general  poems  Emma  Lazarus  put  her  literary  ability. 
Into  her  Jewish  poems  she  put  her  soul.  The  Dance  to  Death" 
is  merely  an  expression  of  her  inner  soul, her  deeper  feelings.  She 
writes  of  the  twelfth  century,  because  the  sorrow  of  the  Jew  in 
her  own  day,  had  made  her  see  how  the  Jew  had  sorrowed 
through  all  history.  Glory  in  individual  men  who  here  and  there 
gave  up  all  for  a  cause?  Why,  here  was  a  whole  people,  martyr 
to  its  faith,  a  people  innocent  of  wrong,  wounded  for  the  trans- 
gressions of  others,  yet  bearing  its  burdens  with  a  dignity  and  a 
patience  and  an  endurance,  of  which  none  but  heroes  could  be 
capable,  and  dancing  to  its  death,  with  prayers  of  praise  to  God. 


92  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


Was  there  ever  so  remarkable,  so  inspiring  a  history,  as  that 
which  this  people  had  written  with  its  very  life  blood?  Emma 
Lazarus  studied  this  history  and  lived  it  over  again.  That  is  why 
there  is  so  much  life  and  reality  to  her  poems  referring  to  it. 
That  is  why  her  Dance  to  Death  "  is  so  vivid,  so  true.  Like 
Scott,  she  did  not  merely  put  herself  into  her  story.  She  pro- 
jected herself  into  the  period  of  which  wrote.  For  the  time 
being,  she  was  Liebhaid,  and  Claire,  and  Siisskind,  and  Rabbi 
Jacob,  and  the  whole  host  of  whom  she  tells  us.  She  suffered 
with  them,  she  wept  with  them,  she  was  brave  with  them,  and 
with  them  she  sang,  as  they  went  to  meet  their  God. 

But  Emma  Lazarus  saw  only  the  tragedy  of  the  Jew.  To  her 
all  of  Jewish  history  was  a  tragedy.  She  met  Jews  who  had  come 
to  America  to  escape  the  torture  they  had  experienced  in  Russia. 
That  incident  exerted  such  a  spell  over  her,  that  wherever  she 
looked  she  could  see  only  the  dark  side  of  Jewish  life.  Now  and 
then  she  catches  a  glimpse  of  the  happier  side  when,  as  "  In  Exile," 
she  speaks  of  Jewish  life  in  America,  but  in  general  her's  is  more 
cloud  than  sunshine.  To  a  certain  degree  the  same  thing  is  true 
of  Grace  Aguilar.  Both  defend  the  Jew,  both  glory  in  Judaism. 
But  both  are  always  sad  and  serious.  Joy,  real  animated  joy,  is  to 
them  almost  unknown.  To  them  the  history  of  their  people  was 
solemnly  tragic ;  and  who  can  smile  at  a  tragedy  ?  Who  can  laugh 
at  death  and  martyrdom?  For  the  greatest  men,  for  the  greatest 
people  in  life,  we  have  only  tears. 

But  do  not  tears  bespeak  real  sympathy,  as  they  often  betoken 
deep  study  and  analysis?  The  superficial  observer  wastes  but 
little  time  and  care  on  the  Jews.  He  is  not  interested  in  them.  He 
has  no  admiration,  no  love  and  little  respect  for  them,  and  he  does 
not  believe  they  deserve  much  pity.  But  the  student,  whether  he 
is  in  sympathy  with  the  Jew  or  not,  is  not  content  to  judge  by 
mere  surface  appearances.  He  knows  such  judgment  denies  him 
right  to  the  title  he  bears.    So  he  goes  beneath  the  surface.  He 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


93 


delves  into  the  depths.  He  pierces  the  veil.  He  does  not  merely 
observe  the  Jew,  he  studies  him,  learns  what  this  hero  in  the 
strife  has  been,  has  done,  has  experienced,  and  then  he  lauds  and 
grieves  and  weeps. 

Whatever  her  early  years,  Emma  Lazarus  lived  and  died  to 
p'fove  she  was  Jewish. 

II.  Suggestions. 

1.  Lessons  I-XI  are  concerned  with  the  productions  of  English 
writers.  With  Emma  Lazarus  we  turn  to  America,  child  of  Eng- 
land. She  was  not  the  first  here  to  picture  the  Jew  in  fiction,  but 
no  American  writer  before  her  gave  the  Jew  such  strong,  living 
expression. 

2.  Born  in  1849  in  America,  Emma  Lazarus  did  not  know 
or  feel  the  disabilities  'neath  which  the  Jews  in  England  still  la- 
bored. 

3.  In  1879,  began  in  Russia  the  persecution  of  the  Jew  which 
culminated  in  the  New  Exodus."  That  Exodus  awoke  the  slum  - 
bering Jewish  feelings  of  Emma  Lazarus.  Thenceforth  she  was 
Jewish  to  the  core. 

4.  The  Dance  to  Death  "  was  written  in  1882.  It  is  a  descrip- 
tion of  Jewish  suffering  in  the  fourteenth  century  (1349).  But 
it  was  Jewish  suffering  in  the  nineteenth  century  that  suggested 
it. 

5.  The  tragedy  is  dedicated  to  George  Eliot,  whom  Emma 
Lazarus  profoundly  admired,  and  from  whose  Daniel  Deronda  " 
she  became  an  ardent  Zionist. 

6.  The  Black  Death,"  the  raison  d'etre  of  the  Dance  to 
Death,"  originated  in  China  and  spread  westward.  25,000,000 
are  said  to  have  died  in  Europe  alone.  The  Jews  were  not  spared, 
but  for  some  reason  or  other,  the  number  of  their  dead,  victims  of 
the  plague,  was  not  proportionate.    This  fact  at  once  gave  rise  to 


94  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 

the  suspicion,  that  the  Jews  had  brought  about  the  plague  by 
poisoning  the  wells,  and  the  suspicion  became  father  to  the  hor- 
rible massacres  that  followed.  The  record  of  these  few  years, 
forms  one  of  the  blackest  pages  in  history. 

7.  Mohammedans  and  Mongols  have  always  been  accused  of 
narrowness,  of  superstition,  of  fanaticism,  yet  they  refused  to 
attribute  the  responsibility  for  the  plague  to  the  Jews. 

8.  The  Black  Death  "  brought  the  order  of  Flagellants  to  life 
again,  but  it  now  found  little  favor.  Pope  Clement  VI.  issued  a 
bull  against  the  order,  Oct.  20,  1349,  the  very  year  of  the  plague. 

9.  The  plot  of  the  play  is  taken  from  Richard  Reinhard's  Der 
Tanz  zum  Tode,''  and  is  based  on  authentic  records  compiled  by 
Prof.  Franz  Delitzsch.  Observe  how  accurate  are  the  historic 
references. 

10.  Perhaps  the  name  of  the  fanatical  prior  Peppercorn  was  sug- 
gested by  the  character  of  Joseph  Pfefiferkorn,  the  miserable  apos- 
tate of  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

11.  In  Act  IV,  scene  i.  Dicker  von  Werther  speaks  in  defense 
of  the  Jews.  Such  Christian  champions  of  Israel  were  not  want- 
ing in  that  critical  hour. 

12.  ''I  have  seen  monstrous  sights,  .  .  .  but  never  until  this 
hour  a  Jew,"  says  one  of  the  onlookers,  as  the  Jews  march  by  to 
their  death.  The  prejudice  against  the  Jew  was  largely  the  result 
of  ignorance.  The  Jew  was  hated  not  because  of  what  he  was, 
but  because  of  what  people  believed  him  to  be.  His  character  was 
good,  but  he  had  a  bad  reputation. 

13.  Many  incidents  in  ''The  Dance  to  Death"  remind  us  of 
''The  Vale  of  Cedars;"  as  Prince  William's  love  for  Liebhaid, 
supposed  to  be  a  Jewess ;  Princess  Mathilde's  refusal  to  permit  the 
death  of  Liebhaid,  and  the  efiforts  to  convert  her,  that  she  might 
become  wife  to  the  Prince, 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


95 


III.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

1.  Present  briefly  the  main  facts  in  the  Hfe  of  Emma  Lazarus. 

2.  What  historic  facts  awoke  her  Jewish  consciousness? 

3.  Did  she  help  the  cause  of  the  Russian  Jews? 

4.  What  was  the  "Black  Death?"  Why  were  the  Jews  held 
responsible  for  it?  Why  did  they  not  feel  its  effects  as  did  others? 

5.  Name  some  of  the  champions  of  the  Jews  during  this  trying 
time. 

6.  Is  the    Dance  to  Death  "  historicaUy  accurate? 

7.  Who  was  Joseph  PfefTerkorn? 

8.  Does  persecution  kill  faith  or  give  it  new  life? 

9.  What  is  the  difiference  between  character  and  reputation? 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 

Emma  Lazarus. 

Introduction  to  the  Houghton,  Mifflin  Edition  of  her  poems. 
Morais,     Eminent  Israelites  of  the  Nineteenth  Century," 
186-192. 

Mabel  Lyon,    Emma  Lazarus,"  Jewish  Exponent,  Aug.  22, 
1902. 

Maccabean,  Nov.,  1902. 
The  Russian  Jew. 

Harold  Frederick,    The  New  Exodus." 

Errera,     The  Russian  Jews  "  (translated  by  Bella  Loewy). 
Persecution  of  the  Jews  in  Russia,"  J.  P.  S.  A. 

Wolf,    The  Jew  as  Patriot,  Soldier  and  Citizen,"  523-564. 

Goldsmith,    Rabbi  and  Priest." 

Antin,     From  Plotzk  to  Boston." 
The  Black  Death. 

Graetz,  IV,  100-135. 

Britannica,  Plague." 

Bulwer,  Rienzi." 

Boccaccio,    The  '  Decameron/  " 


96  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


The  Flagellants. 

Graetz,  IV,  iii,  201,  217. 

Cooper,     Flagellation  and  the  Flagellants/' 

Boileau,    History  of  the  Flagellants." 
Joseph  Pfefiferkorn. 

Graetz,  IV,  423-463. 
Champions  of  the  Jews. 

Graetz,  IV,  106-107. 
# 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 

Lazarus,  "  In  Exile.'' 
Browning,    Holy  Cross  Day." 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


97 


LESSON  XII. 
L    Required  Reading. 
"The  Rebel  Queen.''    Walter  Besant  (1836-1901). 
As  tears  are  natural  to  Emma  Lazarus,  they  are  unnatural  to  Sir 
Walter  Besant.    Does  that  not  at  once  explain  all  ?    Besant  knew 
much  about  the  Jew.    He  had  spent  much  time  in  East  London. 
He  had  been  in  the  ghetto,  had  visited  Jewish  homes,  had  attended 
Jewish  service.    And  he  saw  the  picturesque  side  of  it  all.    It  ap- 
pealed to  his  artistic  nature.    So  he  described  it  in     The  Rebel 
Queen     and     East  London/'  and  showed  in  his  descriptions  a 
sympathy  with  his  subject  that  other  writers  on  Jewish  life  sadly 
lacked. 

Artistic  temperament,  however,  is  not  always  a  guarantee  of  jus- 
tice. Because  Besant  saw  the  picturesque  in  Jewish  life,  and  spoke 
in  general  highly  of  the  Jew,  does  not  prove  he  knew  the  Jew 
intmiately.  He  saw  the  glory  and  beauty  of  synagogue  service. 
He  saw  that  the  Jew  labored  and  loved,  adapted  himself  to  the 
present,  but  did  not  forget  the  past.  He  saw  the  Jew  was  a 
shrewd  business  man  and  yet  a  dreamer.  But  it  was  merely  the 
surface  life  of  the  Jew  he  saw.  He  did  not  penetrate  to  the 
depths,  tie  did  not  analyze.  Fortunate  indeed  was  it  that 
Besant  caught  at  first  glance  the  picturesque.  Another  writer 
would  perhaps  have  given  the  moving  panorama  of  ghetto  life 
a  different  and  poorer  interpretation.  But  it  is  not  safe  to  de- 
pend on  appearances,  particularly  where  the  Jew  is  concerned, 
else  the  Jew  in  literature  will  always  be  the  product  of  a  writer's 
imagination  and  not  an  exact  reproduction  of  the  original. 

So  while  Besant  speaks  kindly  of  Jewish  life,  he  does  not  touch 
us.  He  is  too  cold.  There  is  no  warmth  about  his  descriptions. 
It  is  all  a  matter  of  fact  and  argument,  without  feeling.    I  have 


98  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


said  a  writer  can  merely  put  himself  into  his  books,  that  his  char- 
acters speak  for  him,  represent  him,  prove  him.  Well  Isabel  and 
Emanuel  and  Francesca  are  lifeless.  Emanuel  is  patterned  some- 
what after  Mordecai,  but  how  little  the  resemblance!  Emanuel 
moves  and  breathes,  but  Mordecai  lives.  Adelbert  Angelo  and 
Sydney  Bernard,  repulsive  as  in  many  respects  they  are,  still  have 
this  virtue — they  are  not  automata.  The  old  grandfather  is  per- 
haps the  most  natural  of  all  the  characters,  though  not  by  any 
means  described  as  the  most  important.  But  there  is  something 
appealing  in  him,  something  to  which  our  own  hearts  respond,  and 
when  all  is  said,  that  is  the  best  criterion  for  judgment.  We  are 
merely  human,  and  when  we  become  absorbed  in  characters  in 
fiction,  and  follow  their  fortunes  as  though  the  experiences  through 
which  they  are  passing  were  our  own,  it  means  that  there  is  some- 
thing human  about  them,  and  what  is  human  is  natural,  and  what 
is  natural  is  real  and  true. 

Is  The  Dance  to  Death  stronger  than  The  Rebel  Queen,'' 
and  truer,  because  Emma  Lazarus  was  Jewish?  Does  it  not  stand 
to  reason  that  a  Jew  ought  to  be  the  best  interpreter  of  the  Jew  ? 
Is  there  not  something  in  Jewish  character  a  Christian  cannot  fully 
see  or  understand  or  interpret  aright  ?  The  Jew  is  the  product  of 
centuries  of  history.  Those  centuries  have  contributed  to  his 
psychological  make-up.  He  is  in  many  respects  a  mystery,  a 
riddle.  To  that  riddle  only  the  exceptional  non-Jew  has  found 
the  key.  That  is  why  the  Jew  has  always  been  misunderstood, 
and  why  even  to-day  he  has  not  altogether  come  into  his  own. 

Now  Besant  observed  Jewish  life  and  studied  Jewish  customs, 
and  admired  many  Jewish  characteristics.  But  Jewish  life  never 
became  a  part  of  himself.  It  was  always  something  external  to 
him,  something  objective.  Some  months  ago  a  critic  in  the 
"  Academy,"  comparing  Besant  with  a  contemporary,  said,  He 
(Buchanan)  studied  life  in  the  nude,  while  Sir  Walter  Besant  ar- 
ranged its  draperies."    And  another  voices  the  same  criticism  in 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


99 


"  Literature/'  when  he  says  :  It  was  the  panorama  of  Hfe,  not  the 
mechanism  behind  the  panorama,  that  interested  Besant."  So  we 
have  in  The  Rebel  Queen  "  many  facts  of  Jewish  Hfe.  But  an 
encyclopedia  gives  us  those  facts  too.  It  is  as  though  Besant  had 
read  of  Jewish  life,  and  bodily  incorporated  all  he  read.  The  result 
is  some  mistakes,  many  misinterpretations,  and  little  of  powerful 
appeal.  Apparently  he  did  not  conceive  of  Judaism  as  a  growth. 
To  him  the  Jew  was  permanent,  immortal,  but  almost  unchanging,  ♦ 
constant  in  the  largest  sense  of  the  word. 

I  know  no  writer  more  honest  in  his  interpretation,  his  repre- 
sentation of  the  Jew.  He  tried  to  do  the  Jew  full  justice.  Preju- 
dice was  absolutely  foreign  to  him.  He  was  a  prolific  writer,  and 
some  of  his  books  achieved  practical  results,  as  all  of  them  found 
a  large  circle  of  readers.  But  The  Rebel  Queen  "  can  hardly 
be  accounted  a  success.  Unless,  indeed,  success  be  considered 
rather  a  matter  of  intention  and  of  motive,  than  of  result. 
In  that  case,  of  course,  The  Rebel  Queen  "  was  everything  but  a 
failure.  For  Besant  did  his  best  to  paint  the  Jew  as  he  was.  That 
he  did  not  succeed  is  the  fault  of  his  ability,  not  the  result  of  malice. 
For  what  he  meant  to  do — yes,  and  for  what  he  did — the  Jew  owes 
Sir  Walter  Besant  a  debt  of  gratitude. 

II.  Suggestions. 

1.  With  ''The  Rebel  Queen  "  we  return  to  England.  Practi- 
cally all  the  English  writers  who  tell  us  of  the  Jew,  speak  of  the 
ghetto  Jew  of  London.  To  Besant  that  ghetto  is  an  open  book. 
But  while  he  knows  the  district  he  scarcely  knows  the  Jews.  He 
describes  their  appearances  accurately,  but  he  does  not  know 
their  souls. 

2.  Besant  speaks  but  of  Orthodox  Judaism.  Apparently  he 
knows  but  little  of  Reform.  Remember,  however,  that  in  Eng- 
land, Reform  as  here  understood  is  practically  unknown.  What 
to  the  English  Jew  would  appear  as  radical,  would  to  the  Amer- 
ican seem,  conservative. 


100         The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 

3.  The  Rebel  Queen  is  based  on  a  misconception  of  the  place 
of  woman  in  Israel.  Jewish  teachers  of  extreme  orthodox  tenets, 
may  have  at  one  time  fashioned  such  a  philosophy  as  that  which 
Isabel  Elveda  condemns,  and  against  which  she  rebels.  But  a 
few  extremists  do  not  make  Israel,  any  more  than  a  few  extreme 
ideas  constitute  Judaism.  A  single  expression  underestimating 
the  importance  of  woman,  and  assigning  her  an  inferior  position 
in  life,  can  be  matched  with  hundreds  of  quotations  paying  the 
highest  possible  tribute  to  her,  and  yielding  her  not  merely  all 
honor,  but  practically  every  right. 

4.  The  Rebel  Queen  is  presented  as  a  story  of  modern  life. 
Isabel  and  Emanuel  Elveda  would  have  been  improbable  at  any 
time.    To-day  they  would  be  impossible. 

5.  "  Nature,''  the  Divine  Order,"  Law,"  are  frequently  re- 
ferred to  as  synonyms.  The  references  are  always  to  Jewish 
teachings,  and  the  impression  is  created  that  Judaism  is  a  religion 
of  rigorous  and  exacting  law,  like  nature  herself.  Emanuel  is 
pictured  as  being  distinctively  Jewish,  hence  it  is  taken  for  granted 
his  attitude  on  all  vital  questions  is  Jewish  too.  Yet  he  is  mis- 
taken, who  thinks  Judaism  to  have  been  or  to  be  without  love. 
Schechter  argues  that  the  Psalms,  outpourings  of  joy,  could  never 
have  been  written  had  Judaism  been  merely  legalistic,  had  it  been 
merely  Law,  01  had  its  law  not  been  love  as  well.  Emanuel  sacri- 
fices his  love  to  his  conception  of  the  Law.  In  Judaism  the  con- 
flict did  not  exist;  if  it  had.  Law  would  have  yielded  to  love. 

6.  Yet  Besant  has,  in  general,  an  accurate  knowledge  of  Jewish 
life  and  thought.  Of  course,  he  sometimes  misinterprets  and  mis- 
takes facts  as  he  does  tendencies.  When  Francesca  visits  the  syna- 
gogue, Emanuel  tells  her  the  whole  Law  is  read  every  week, 
whereas  a  year  is  the  shortest  time  in  which  the  Pentateuch  is  ever 
read.  He  refers  also  to  the  six  hundred  Jewish  commands,  when 
in  reality  he  means  the  six  hundred  and  thirteen,  which  Rabbi 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


lOI 


Simlai  enumerated.  But  these  are  minor  matters.  On  the  whole, 
Besant  displays  an  unusual  acquaintance  with  Jewish  life. 

7.  Emanuel  cannot  endure  city  life.  He  must  get  back  to  the 
desert,  to  nature ;  like  Ruskin,  like  Rousseau.  The  Jew  was  once 
a  child  of  nature,  a  man  of  the. soil,  of  the  country.  To-day  he  is 
a  man  of  the  city. 

8.  Speaking  to  Francesca,  Nelly  remarks  (p.  215)  that  London 
is  over-crowded  with  Jewish  immigrants  from  Russia.  The 
problem  is  an  acute  one  in  London  to-day  and  an  effort  is  now 
being  made  (and  it  promises  to  be  successful)  to  limit  immigra- 
tion. 

9.  All  love  and  revere  the  old  grandfather;  that  is  Jewish.  He 
worships  Napoleon;  that  is  French.  The  Good  Old  Chronicle  " 
attributes  the  emancipation  of  the  Jew  to  the  Little  Corsican.'' 
In  large  degree  the  claim  is  true.  Loyal  for  the  time  being  to  the 
principles  that  gave  the  Revolution  birth,  Napoleon  granted  the 
Jew  every  privilege  the  Christian  enjoyed.  In  181 5,  after  his  de- 
feat, these  privileges  were  withdrawn.  But  the  Revolution  had 
not  been  in  vain. 

10.  To  destroy  the  walls  of  the  ghetto  is  not  to  transform  the 
residents."  Emanuel.  Compare  with  Zangwill's  words,  "  People 
who  have  been  living  in  a  ghetto  for  a  couple  of  centuries,  are  not 
able  to  step  outside  merely  because  the  gates  are  thrown  down, 
nor  to  efface  the  brands  on  their  souls,  by  putting  off  the  yellow 
badges."    (Proem,  to     Children  of  the  Ghetto.") 

III.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

1.  How  does  the  Jew  in  England  differ  from  his  brother  in 
America  ? 

2.  Has  what  is  known  as  the  American  spirit  hurried  the  prog- 
ress of  Reform  in  Judaism? 


I02  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


3.  How  does  Besant  misrepresent  the  Jewish  woman?  What 
position  did  she  really  occupy  in  Jewish  life? 

4.  Why  has  Judaism  been  accused  of  being  Law  without  Love  ? 
What  are  the  real  facts  in  the  case  ? 

5.  Is  there  anything  Jewish  about  Emanuers  dreams  or  in  his 
yearnings  for  the  free  Hfe  of  the  desert? 

6.  What  did  Napoleon  do  for  the  Jews? 

7.  Compare  Francesca's  discovery  of  her  Jewish  birth  with  the 
similar  experience  of  Daniel  Deronda. 

8.  Our  worship  keeps  us  together.  It  is  our  bond  of  union/' 
What  is  the  secret  of  Israel's  immortality? 

9.  Compare  Emanuel  Elveda  with  Mordecai. 

10.  Compare  Emma  Lazarus  and  Walter  Besant. 

11.  Enumerate  some  of  the  changes  history  has  wrought  in 
Jewish  character. 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 

The  Jewish  Woman. 

Aguilar,    Women  of  Israel.'' 

Remy,     The  Jewish  Woman." 

Zirndorf,     Some  Jewish  Women." 

Schechter,    Studies  in  Judaism,"  313-325. 

Szold,  "  What  Has  Judaism  Done  for  Woman  "  in  ''Juda- 
ism at  Parliament  of  Religions,"  304-310. 

Karpeles,  ''Jewish  Literature,"  106-145. 
The  London  Jew. 

Besant,    East  London,"  187-207. 

Russel-Lewis,  ''  The  Jew  in  London." 

Wyckofif,     Among  London  Wage  Earners "  Scribners, 
Sept.,  1902. 
Napoleon  and  the  Jew. 
Graetz,  V,  429-536. 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


103 


Critical  Estimates  of  Besant. 

Literary  Digest,  July  27,  1901. 
Besant. 

Autobiography. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia. 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 

Purim  this  year  (1902)  falls  on  March  23.  When  it  occurs 
during  the  time  of  another  lesson,  the  readings  can  be  easily  re- 
arranged. 

Aguilar,  "  Dialogue  Stanzas.'' 

Masoch,    Haman  and  Esther." 


I04         The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


LESSON  XIII. 

I.    Required  Reading. 
^'The  Children  of  the  Ghetto."    Israel  Zangwill  (1864—). 

The  first  volume  of  the  Jewish  Encyclopedia  has  been  criti- 
cized, for  containing  the  biographies  of  men  and  women  still 
among  the  living.  Britannica,  when  first  it  appeared,  avoided 
that  mistake,  though  as  much  cannot  be  said  of  many  of  the 
American  reprints.  The  wisdom  of  permitting  time  to  grow  over 
the  graves  of  men,  before  attempting  to  place  an  estimate  on  their 
lives,  seems  patent.  To  judge  them  while  yet  they  are  with  us,  is 
to  risk  the  possibility  of  having  a  later  day  prove  our  judgment 
faulty,  inaccurate,  false.  On  the  one  hand,  under  the  spell  and 
glamour  of  brilliancy  and  achievement,  we  are  in  danger  of  foun- 
dering on  the  Scylla  of  exaggeration.  On  the  other  hand,  influ- 
enced by  the  misunderstanding  and  denunciation  to  which  real 
greatness  is  so  often  heir,  we  shall  find  it  dif?icult  to  escape  the 
Charybdis  of  underestimation.  What  we  wish  is  truth,  and  truth 
is  not  found  in  a  day.  Sometimes  centuries  must  pass  before  it 
can  be  discovered. 

Thus  far  in  our  study,  we  have  considered  twelve  volumes, 
whose  authors  are  among  the  unnumbered  dead.  Marlowe 
died  1593,  Besant  1901.  With  Lesson  XIII,  we  come  to  writers 
whose  best  contributions  to  literature  have  been  made  during  the 
last  few  years,  and  from  whose  pens  we  may  expect  other  works, 
equal  to  those  that  have  already  made  them  prominent. 

It  may  be  that  before  a  generation  has  passed,  these  writers 
will  have  been  forgotten.  The  possibility  is  a  distant  one,  yet  it 
is  a  possibility.  Other  writers  have  in  the  past  gained  a  promi- 
nence equal  to  their's,  and  then  to  their  profound  regret  have 
seen  that  prominence  disappear  as  rapidly  as  it  came;  while  som^ 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction  103 

during  life  met  only  indifference  or  harsh  criticism,  and  discovered 
fame  only  when  they  were  gone.  Still  we  should  not  be  human 
if  we  did  not  try  to  judge,  to  balance,  to  compare.  And  then  the 
world  knows  no  halt.  Pessimists  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding, 
the  world  is  larger,  better,  stronger  than  ever.  The  inference  may 
not  be  true,  but  it  seems  reasonably  permissible,  that  the  latest 
point  in  development  is  its  highest.  The  last  expression  of  prog- 
ress ought  to  be  its  best.  This  consideration  alone  should  justify 
the  study  of  our  own  times.  Zangwill,  Gordon,  Wolf  and  Lud- 
low, may  be  in  the  public  eye  only  temporarily.  But  as  the  best 
of  the  latest  exponents  of  a  particular  phase  of  literature,  they  de- 
serve serious  consideration,  for  their  light  promises  to  shine  for 
more  than  a  day. 

Moreover,  the  Jew  was  never  so  well  understood  as  he  is  to- 
day. Profounder  ignorance  of  the  Jew  than  that  which  obtained 
scarcely  a  century  and  a  half  ago,  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine. 
The  birth  and  development  of  political  emancipation,  striking  off 
the  shackles  with  which  the  Jew  was  burdened,  opened  the  eyes 
of  the  world  to  the  injustice,  the  iniquity,  the  absurdity  of  its  anti- 
Jewish  attitude.  The  prisoners  came  forth  from  their  dungeon, 
and  the  blind  saw  again.  At  last  the  hope  which  had  so  long 
upheld  the  Jew  began  to  be  realized. 

Yet  the  millennium  did  not  come  with  American  Independence, 
or  the  French  Revolution,  or  the  Congress  of  Berlin,  or  the  strug- 
gle of  1848,  or  the  Franco-Prussian  War.  The  nineteenth  cen- 
tury has  meant  much  to  the  Jew,  more  than  the  score  of  centuries 
preceding  it,  but  it  has  seen  too  many  sorrows  which  the  Jew  will 
have  occasion  to  remember,  to  permit  the  belief  that  it  long  ago 
filled  Israel's  cup  of  joy  to  overflowing.  However,  with  each  ad- 
vancing year  these  sorrows  have  grown  fewer  in  number.  Day 
by  day  the  Jew  has  secured  more  and  more  of  freedom,  more  of 
privileges,  more  of  right,  and  so  day  by  day  has  become  better 
known. 


io6  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 

Now  I  repeat,  literature  is  the  expression  of  a  people's  life.  As 
the  world  grows,  its  growth  is  mirrored  in  its  books.  An  author 
writes  himself  into  his  works,  but  he  writes  down  his  people  and 
his  country  as  well.  To-day  men  have  a  more  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Jew  than  they  had  a  century  ago.  Therefore,  the 
caricatures  then  considered  Jewish  types  are  having  a  truer  esti- 
mate placed  upon  them,  and  therefore  the  pictures  painted  of  the 
Jew  are  becoming  worthier,  truer,  and  more  dignified.  To  omit 
these  pictures  would  be  to  do  our  subject  an  injustice. 

But  most  of  the  writers  of  to-day  who  describe  the  Jew  in  fiction 
are  Jews!  Is  the  statement  surprising,  or  has  your's  been  the  be- 
lief that  the  Jew  has  always  known  himself  well,  and  that  it  is 
but  natural  that  his  pictures  of  his  own  people  should  be  accurate  ? 
Be  it  confessed,  the  prophets  of  Israel  were  not  the  last  to  bewail 
Jewish  ignorance  of  things  Jewish.  Nevertheless,  conditions  are 
bettering.  The  Jew  is  becoming  better  known  to  others — and  to 
himself.    The  prospect  is  promising. 

The  dawn  of  this  new  era  of  promise  was  heralded  by  Israel 
Zangwill,  when  in  1892  his  Children  of  the  Ghetto  "  appeared. 
Since  then  Zangwill's  pen  has  known  no  rest.  He  has  given  us 
stories,  long  and  short,  on  Jewish  and  on  general  subjects.  All 
show  that  he  has  grown  and  become  stronger  in  every  way.  But 
viewed  from  a  Jewish  standpoint,  nothing  he  has  written  equals 
his  first  attempt  to  describe  his  own.  He  wrote  of  what  he  saw, 
what  he  knew,  what  he  lived.  It  was  his  first,  his  best.  Yet  its 
welcome  was  cold  and  cheerless.  It  received  little  attention  and 
less  praise.  Some  two  years  ago  the  bool<  was  dramatized.  Bj 
that  time  Zangwill  was  famous.  If  he  had  not  been,  that  play 
would  have  made  him  so.  There  was  no  lack  of  attention  now. 
Not  a  critic,  large  or  small,  but  gave  it  column  upon  column.  But 
it  was  all  to  emphasize  faults,  to  point  out  flaws,  to  denounce. 
Here  and  there  a  voice  was  raised  to  commend.  It  was  lost  in  a 
din  of  bitter  opposition.    Jew  and  non-Jew  joined  forces  in  bring- 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


107 


ing  about  its  death,  and  their  effort  was  successful.  What  was 
there  about  the  Children  of  the  Ghetto  "  that  will  explain  these 
circumstances  ? 

In  the  first  place,  Zangwill  wrote  of  the  Jew,  and  the  Jew  has 
never  been  a  popular  figure  in  literature,  or  on  the  stage.  Per- 
haps that  statement  should  be  somewhat  conditioned.  In  earlier 
days,  when  he  was  presented  as  a  bloodthirsty  villain,  his  presence 
was  considered  an  added  attraction.  "  The  Merchant  of  Venice  " 
was  a  success,  so  was  The  Duenna,"  yet  both  tell  of  the  for- 
tunes (or  misfortunes)  of  Jews.  But  The  Jew  was  a  failure. 
Considered  from  a  dramatic  and  literary  view-point,  the  truer  the 
Jew,  the  less  his  power  of  attraction. 

Further,  The  Children  of  the  Ghetto  "  tells  us  of  English  life, 
and  for  Americans  it  is  somewhat  difficult  to  appreciate  English 
characteristics.  After  all  we  are  largely  the  products  of  our  en- 
vironment, and  consciously  or  unconsciously  we  develop  a  so- 
called  patriotism,  that  bhnds  us  to  our  faults  and  to  others 
virtues.  We  love  America,  but  we  know  little  of,  and  we  care 
little  for  other  countries. 

Then  it  is  ghetto-life  Zangwill  describes,  and  of  that  life,  most 
of  those  not  of  the  ghetto,  know  nothing.  But  little  acquainted 
with  Jewish  life  in  general,  the  non-Jew  is  even  less  acquainted 
with  that  phase  of  it  to  be  seen  on  the  East  Side.  The  Jew  him- 
self, who  is  born  amid  happy  surroundings,  knows  something  of 
the  life  his  co-religionists  live  in  the  ghetto.  But  most  of  his  in- 
formation he  has  usually  gathered  from  magazine  and  newspaper 
articles,  or  from  hurried  visits,  where  surface  indications  have 
been  his  only  data  for  judgment.  In  general,  I  dare  say  the  Jew 
who  has  never  been  in  the  ghetto,  is  almost  as  much  a  stranger 
to  its  life  as  is  his  Christian  neighbor. 

Ghetto  life,  religiously  speaking,  is  a  conservative  life.  Every 
sort  of  ism  is  bred  there — Socialism,  Radicalism,  Atheism,  Union- 
ism— but  where  orthodoxy  is  not  the  form  of  faith,  there  is  no 


io8  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 

faith.  The  ghetto  Jew  is  seldom  ,a  reform  Jew.  When  he  be- 
comes such,  he  generally  leaves  the  ghetto.  Now  a  consistent 
orthodox  Judaism  must  be  a  consistent  Shulhan  Aruk,  a  con- 
sistent Talmudic  Judaism.  Zangwill  makes  that  much  plain.  But 
how  many  not  bred  in  orthodoxy,  know  much  of  the  Shulhan 
Aruk  or  the  Talmud? 

Perhaps  these  facts  will  in  a  measure  explain  why  The  Chil- 
dren of  the  Ghetto  received  such  cheerless  welcome.  It  tells  us 
of  the  Jew,  the  English  Jew,  the  ghetto  Jew,  the  Talmudic  Jew, 
and  to  the  world  at  large  that  Jew  is  a  total  stranger. 

Of  course  Zangwill  is  not  responsible  for  the  world's  ignor- 
ance, nor  is  he  to  be  found  fault  With  because  of  it.  People  may  not 
like  his  characters,  since  they  do  not  know  or  understand  them. 
Those  characters  may  be  none  the  less  true.  The  blind  man  may 
argue  there  is  no  sun.  'Tis  his  eye  that  is  at  fault.  Reb  Shemuel, 
Malka,  Melchizedek  Pinchas,  Strelitzki,  are  not  merely  imagina- 
tive characters.  They  pay  as  much  tribute  to  Zangwill's  power 
of  description,  as  to  his  originality  and  creative  ability.  They  are 
real  figures,  products  of  the  past  and  living  under  the  spell  of  that 
past,  but  still  part  and  parcel  of  the  moving  mass  that  to-day  con- 
stitutes the  London  ghetto.  Out  of  rhyme,  and  out  of  tune  with 
the  rushing  progressive  present,  if  you  will,  an  exotic  laboring  to 
adjust  itself  to  its  new  soil  before  its  life  is  spent,  but  still  here, 
still  living,  and  still  to  be  reckoned  with. 

Do  you  remember  the  many  criticisms  to  which  at  the  home  of 
the  Goldsmith's,  Esther's  book,  written  under  the  nom  do  phime  of 
Armitage,  is  subjected?  Of  the  ''Children  of  the  Ghetto"  we 
have  heard  and  read  all  these  criticisms  and  more.  Most  of  them 
are  as  absurd  as  they  are  weak,  and  most  display  as  much  ignor- 
ance as  they  do  prejudice.  Zangwill  has  been  roundly  con- 
demned because  he  has  not  been  understood.  The  heritage 
a  great  man  leaves  the  world,  is  to  force  it  to  explain  him,"  said 
Hegel.  To  know  is  to  understand  and  appreciate.  Not  ignor- 
ance, but  knowledge  is  saving. 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction  109 

Yet  Zangwill  is  not  free  from  fault.  He  is  without  question  the 
leading  Jewish  writer  of  the  day.  I  dare  say,  he  could  not  if  he 
would,  write  uninterestingly.  His  ease  of  utterance  is  remark- 
able. He  knows  Jewish  life.  His  plots  are  developed  with  con- 
summate skill.  He  knows  how  to  make  the  most  of  a  situation. 
He  speaks  as  one  with  authority,  and  so  he  exerts  an  influence. 
He  has  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  humor;  so  you  laugh  with  him. 
He  sees  the  tragedy  of  life ;  so  you  weep  with  him. 

And  here  we  reach  the  crucial  point.  Given  to  the  making  of 
epigrams,  Zangwill  often  sacrifices  truth  to  expression.  To  make 
his  thought  striking,  he  exaggerates.  He  does  not  beat  about  the 
bush.  He  strikes  straight  from  the  shoulder.  He  is  plain-spoken 
and  open  in  his  criticism.  He  lacks  tact,  but  at  least  he  is  honest 
to  the  core.  At  times,  however,  he  is  more  honest  than  exact. 
In  the  heat  of  argument,  he  is  too  much  given  to  generalization. 
Because  some  Jews  dream,  all  are  Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto.'' 
Because  the  history  of  the  Jew  records  suffering,  all  Jewish  life 
is  a  tragedy.  It  is  said  of  George  Eliot  that  while  she  knows  how 
to  be  humorous,  her  Jewish  characters  are  all  serious.  Zangwill 
can  hardly  be  said  to  be  humorous.  You  laugh  at  some  situations 
he  describes,  but  when  you  think  it  over,  you  find  you  are  laugh- 
ing at  human  weaknesses.  Sometimes  your  laughter  ends  with  a 
sob.  The  King  of  Schnorrers  and  Melchizedeck  Pinchas  are  sup- 
posed to  be  funny.  But  their  humor  is  forced  and  exaggerated. 
However,  they  have  this  virtue,  they  are  not  always  serious  and 
solemn.  It  takes  all  kinds  of  people  to  make  a  world.  Zangwill 
brings  a  varied  host  before  us,  but  with  almost  im  exception  they 
have  this  point  of  resemblance,  they  all  suffer.  Sometimes  they 
are  pessimistic,  sometimes  cynical,  sometimes  patient,  sometimes 
deeply  religious,  but  a  gloom  hovers  over  them  all.  In  The 
Children  of  the  Ghetto "  the  gloom  is  at  infrequent  intervals 
pierced  by  a  ray  of  sunshine.  In  Zangwill's  later  stories  even  this 
ray  is  wanting.    All  is  darkness  and  tragedy  and  tears.    Such  an 


no 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


afmosphere  may  be  interesting,  but  at  times  we  are  interested  in 
what  is  not  altogether  true.  There  are  sorrows  in  Jewish  Ufe, 
but  there  are  joys  too ;  tears,  but  also  smiles ;  tragedies,  but  also 
wholesome,  happy  comedies. 

\  II.  Suggestions. 

1.  Zangwill  was  born  and  bred  in  the  ghetto  of  London. 
Therefore,  he  writes  of  what  he  knows.  George  Eliot  and  Walter 
Besant  knew  something  of  this  ghetto  life,  because  they  studied 
it.    Zangwill  lived  it. 

2.  There  are  some  things  about  Jewish  life  in  London  we 
Americans  cannot  altogether  appreciate.  Remember  that  once 
a  Jew  always  a  Jew  "  does  not  mean  that  the  Jew  is  everywhere 
the  same.  To  a  large  degree  he  is  what  the  country  of  his  birth 
or  adoption  makes  him.  America  is  not  England.  The  Ameri- 
can Jew  is  not  the  English  Jew.  The  New  York  ghetto  is  not 
the  ghetto  in  London. 

3.  England  differs  from  America  in  that  it  is  more  conserva- 
tive. Commercially,  we  have  known  this  for  some  time.  Reli- 
giously speaking,  the  same  truth  holds  good.  So  Judaism  in 
England  is  not  so  progressive  as  it  is  here.  That  is  why,  what  for 
us  may  have  long  ago  lost  all  life  and  meaning,  may  by  our 
English  cousins  be  deemed  all  important. 

4.  "  The  Children  of  the  Ghetto  "  is  a  study  in  realism.  Many 
of  the  characters  really  lived.    The  others  are  possible. 

5.  At  home  in  the  ghetto,  Zangwill  cares  little  for,  and  has 
little  appreciation  of,  Jewish  life  that  has  outgrown  it.  There- 
fore, volume  I  is  truer  than  volume  II.  The  one  is  fact,  the 
other  fiction.    Yet  remember,  fiction  is  built  on  fact. 

6.  Intellectually  speaking,  Zangwill  is  often  extremely  radical 
in  his  ideas.  Yet,  his  artist's  eye  finds  beauties  in  the  old. 
Religiously,  at  times  he  outstrips  the  most  radical.  Again, 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


III 


ceremonialism  touches  his  heart  strings  into  sympathetic  vibra- 
tion. In  general,  he  is  friend  of  orthodoxy  and  foe  to  reform. 
Recall,  that  English  Judaism  knows  no  real  reform.  Mr.  Russel 
calls  it  ''amphibious."  Does  that  explain  Zangwill's  attitude? 
Then,  a  dreamer  is  often  inconsistent;  one  of  the  eccentricities 
of  geilius. 

7.  Abraham  Cahan  says,  The  Children  of  the  Ghetto  "  tells 
us  of  the  world  of  Talmudic  Judaism  crumbling  under  the 
pressure  of  modern  culture."  The  reHgion  of  the  ghetto  is 
Talmudic.  Real  reform  is  scarcely  known.  When  the  ghetto 
Jew  gives  up  his  orthodoxy,  he  often  gives  up  all  that  is  Jewish. 
From  rigorous  ceremonialism  to  atheism  is  often  but  a  step. 
There  is  frequently  a  kinship  between  extremes.  Melchizedek 
Pinchas  is  merely  an  illustration. 

8.  Yet,  outgrown  and  difificult  as  is  to-day,  a  consistent  Tal- 
mudic Judaism,  it  is  possible  and  at  times  beautiful.  Is  there 
no  strength  and  appeal  in  the  character  of  Reb  Shemuel? 

9.  But  consistency  in  orthodoxy  necessarily  requires  emphasis 
upon  the  letter,  often  at  the  expense  of  the  spirit  of  the  Law. 
Judaism  is  a  religion  of  life,  not  of  death,  of  sacrifice,  but  not  of 
suicide.  Real  Judaism  would  have  made  Hannah  happy.  An 
undue  stress  upon  its  letter  made  her  life  a  tragedy.  ''  Spirit 
without  letter  is  a  mere  phantasm  "  says  Schechter.  Letter  with- 
out spirit  is  too  often  a  reality. 

10.  Judaism  wants  of  us  sacrifice.  It  would  be  a  poor  reli- 
gion if  it  did  not,  and  we  would  be  poor  Jews  if  we  did  not  give 
it  what  it  asked.  We  are  not  born  in  sin,  certain  to  do  wrong, 
and  doomed  in  consequence  to  eternal  perdition.  But  we  are 
so  constituted  that  it  is  easy  for  us  to  yield  to  temp'tation.  Often 
we  do  what  we  like  instead  of  what  we  ought.  Pleasure,  not 
duty,  often  attracts  us.  Judaism  is  a  reHgion  of  happiness.  But 
it  is,  above  all,  a  reHgion  of  duty,  be  your's  joy  or  sorrow.  It. 


ri2 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


says,  ''Rejoice,"  but  it  adds,  Do  right,  and  be  righteous,  what- 
ever the  sacrifices,  whatever  the  consequences,  even  though  the 
very  heavens  fall." 

11.  Esther,  at  home  in  a  dingy  garret  in  the  ghetto,  is  home- 
less in  the  midst  of  wealth.  Healthy  growth  demands  native 
soil.  The  whole  question  of  the  break-up  of  the  ghetto  is  here 
involved.   We  progress  best  not  by  revolution  but  by  evolution. 

12.  George  Eliot  became  a  Zionist,  because  of  her  theory  of 
heredity  and  tradition;  Zangwill,  because  he  thought  Zionism  the 
only  solution  to  the  Jewish  problem.  Vol.  II,  p.  207,  Raphael 
calls  Joseph  Strelitzki  a  dreamer  for  objecting  to  Zionism.  To- 
day, the  charge  is  quite  the  reverse. 

III.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

1.  Give  a  brief  account  of  the  life  of  Zangwill. 

2.  How  is  his  life  reflected  in  his  writings? 

3.  Compare  the  ghetto  of  London  with  that  of  New  York; 
the  English  Jew  with  the  American. 

4.  Why  is  England  more  conservative  than  America? 

5.  Why  is  Volume  I  of  The  Children  of  the  Ghetto  truer 
than  Volume  II? 

6.  Can  you  offer  an  explanation  of  Zangwill's  inconsistencies? 

7.  What  do  you  mean  by  Talmudic  Judaism?  What  is  the 
Talmud? 

8.  Are  orthodoxy  and  heterodoxy  related?  How? 

9.  What  is  meant  by  the  letter  of  the  law,  as  opposed  to  the 
spirit?    Give  some  illustrations  from  Jewish  life. 

10.  Is  consistent  orthodoxy  possible?  How? 

11.  Can  you  justify  the  sentiment,  ''Judaism  is  a  religion  of 
sacrifice  "? 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


113 


12.  How  can  we  remedy  ghetto  conditions? 

13.  Esther  and  Raphael.  How  can  ghetto  and  non-ghetto 
Jews  meet  on  common  ground? 

14.  Why  is  evolution  better  than  revolution?  ' 

! 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 

The  Ghetto.  \ 

Graetz,  Index,      Jew's  Quarter." 
The  Ghetto  in  New  York. 

Cahan,  ''The  Imported  Bridegroom;"  '' Yekl." 

Babod,  "  The  American  Israelite,"  Feb.  27,  1902. 

Bernstein,     In  the  Gates  of  Israel." 

Hapgood,  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Ghetto." 

The  Talmud. 

Abrahams,  "  Jewish  Literature,"  43-54. 
Deutsch,  "  The  Talmud,"  J.  P.  S.  A. 
Darmesteter,  "  The  Talmud,"  J.  P.  S.  A. 

The  Shulhan  Aruk. 

Abrahams,  232-242. 
Zangwill's  Play. 

Cahan,  Forum,  Dec,  1899. 

Elzas,  Israelite,  Feb.  27,  1902. 

Zangwill  as  Zionist. 

Zionism,"  Lippincott,  Oct.,  1899. 
The  Redemption,"  Leslie,  Dec,  1901. 

The  Jew  in  the  Year  2000,"  Literary  Digest,  July  13,  1901. 
Estimate  of  Zangwill  by  Dr.  Leipziger,  Judge  Sulzberger,  J.  W. 
Mack,  F.  de  Sola  Mendes,  Abraham  Cahan,  and  Prof. 
Seligman. 
The  Judsean  Book,  Nov.,  1897. 


114 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


Zangwill's  Jewish  Stories. 

"  Children  of  the  Ghetto  "  (1892). 
"  Ghetto  Tragedies  "  (1893). 
The  King  of  Schnorrers  "  (1894). 
Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto  "  (1898). 
"  They  that  Walk  in  Darkness  (1899). 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 
Rosenfeld,  "  I  am  a  Machine.'' 
Zangwill,  "  The  Rose  of  the  Ghetto." 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


115 


LESSON  XIV. 

I.    Required  Reading. 

''The  Sons  of  the  Covenant."    Samuel  Gordon. 

That  there  is  a  side  to  the  ghetto  other  than  that  which  Zang- 
wiH  describes,  is  shown  us  in  The  Sons  of  the  Covenant." 
Gordon,  too,  was  born  and  bred  in  East  London,  and  it  is  of  that 
famous  district  of  which  he  writes,  but  while  the  scenes  are 
practically  the  same  as  those  of  which  Zangwill  tells  us,  we 
scarcely  recognize  them.  They  seem  to  have  undergone  some 
transformation.  They  are  brighter.  That  is  because  Gordon 
looks  at  them  with  brighter  eye  and  happier  heart.  Where 
Zangwill  sees  only  darkness,  he  finds  light.  Where  Zangwill 
sees  despair,  he  finds  hope.  He  does  not  believe  the  ghetto 
to  be  perfect.  He  knows  its  faults  and  its  sorrows.  But  that 
knowledge  'does  not  make  him  bitter,  sarcastic,  cynical.  He  sees 
hope  everywhere,  in  the  ghetto,  and  out  of  it,  and  he  sees 
good.  He  speaks  of  Narrow  Alley,  but  it  is  not  merely  a  dirty 
and  filthy  lane.  He  takes  us  outside  the  ghetto's  walls,  and 
he  meets  more  than  hypocrisy,  and  gossip,  and  a  parvenu  cul- 
ture. He  sees  the  two  sides  of  London  Jewish  life,  but  he  does 
not  antagonize  them.  He  brings  them  into  friendly  contact. 
Mrs.  Lipcott  is  poor,  but  she  is  still  a  Jewess  and  a  mother. 
Mrs.  Duveen  is  wealthy,  but  that  makes  her  no  less  honest, 
no  less  a  woman  of  feeling.  Mrs.  Diamond  is  funny,  because 
of  her  faults,  but  she  is  not  ridiculous;  she  has  her  virtues.  Even 
Yellow  Joe,  product  of  the  slums,  is  not  beyond  redemption. 
In  the  ghetto  and  out  of  it,  in  the  palace  of  the  rich  and  the 
cramped  quarters  of  the  poor,  Gordon  finds  something  good, 
something  worth  the  while,  something  hopeful.  Jewish  life  of 
to-day  is  for  him  more  than  a  tragedy  on  which  the  curtain  will 


ii6  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


soon  fall.  It  is  a  drama  of  rather  complex  nature,  in  which 
the  lights  and  shadows  of  human  life  are  mingled,  but  over  all 
shines  the  sun  of  hope.  The  Jew  is  not  all  he  should  be.  Jew- 
ish life  is  not  all  we  would  wish  it  to  be.  But  one  day  condi- 
tions will  be  better.  We  are  living  in  a  time  of  stress  and  strain, 
of  strenuous  change.  We  have  not  fully  adjusted  ourselves  to 
our  new  surroundings.  To-morrow  perhaps  we  shall  have  more 
time  to  look  about  and  straighten  things  up,  and  then  life  will 
assume  a  dififerent  aspect.    But  let  us  not  despair.    So  long  as 

God's  in  His  heaven, 

All's  right  with  the  world.'' 

.But  Gordon  does  more  than  hope.  For  the  wrongs,  the 
abuses,  the  evils  that  he  sees,  he  suggests  remedies.  Zangwill 
will  merely  ridicule  and  denounce.  Gordon  plans  and  pleads. 
He  knows  ghetto  conditions  must  better.  How  to  better  them 
is  the  question.  First  it  is  necessary  to  understand  the  facts 
that  have  created  the  problem.  The  trades  of  the  ghetto  are 
few  in  number.  Children,  as  soon  as  they  are  able  to  work, 
follow  in  the  footsteps  of  their  fathers.  Newly  arriving  immi- 
grants no  sooner  set  foot  within  the  ghetto,  than  they  too  join 
the  ranks  laboring  in  the  sweat-shops.  Consequently,  the  few 
trades  to  which  the  ghetto  Jew  gives  himself  are  overcrowded, 
and  as  these  trades  as  a  general  thing  pay  but  small  wages, 
the  standard  of  life  is  lowered.  To  remedy  these  conditions,  the 
rising  generation  must  be  taught  other  work  than  that  in  which 
their  parents  have  grown  up,  must  be  trained  in  lines  other  than 
those  in  which  older  generations  have  passed  their  lives.  The 
Jew  to-day  must  become  skilled  in  a  wider  field  than  the  ghetto 
allows.  The  technical  school  will  provide  him  the  necessary 
training.  It  will  fit  him  to  occupy  positions  his  father  did  not 
know,  and  to  which  he  could  not  have  aspired  if  he  had  known 
them.    He  will  no  longer  be  compelled  to  remain  within  the  ghet- 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


117 


to,  to  make  a  livelihood  a  certainty.  His  will  be  the  privilege  of 
leaving  it,  of  moving  into  the  open,  of  seeing  the  world  and  battling 
with  it.  Of  course  he  will  have  to  labor  would  he  find  returns. 
But  the  Jew  does  not  fear  work.  Give  him  the  opportunity 
and  he  will  take  advantage  of  it  and  make  the  personal  equation 
tell. 

Gordon  may  be  too  hopeful,  but  his  plan  is  more  than  a  dream 
or  theory.  It  has  been  and  is  still  being  tried,  and  failure  has 
not  yet  been  its  share.  Wherever  the  technical  school  has  gone, 
it  has  raised  the  standard  of  labor  and  the  dignity  of  life.  It 
has  not  killed  the  slums,  but  it  has  helped  them.  The  problem 
cannot  be  solved  in  a  day. 

That  the  ghetto  must  help  in  the  solution  of  its  own  problems, 
goes  without  saying.  Assistance  from  without  can  do  much, 
but  it  cannot  do  all  things.  It  must  find  hearty  co-operation 
within.  Leuw  and  Phil,  after  leaving  the  ghetto,  return  to  it 
to  help  lift  their  poorer  coreligionists.  More  and  more  are  leav- 
ing the  ghetto  daily,  are  outgrowing  its  life.  But  however  far 
from  it  they  journey,  they  understand  it  better  than  do  those 
who  have  been  born  and  bred  away  from  it.  Cannot  these  grad- 
uates assist  their  alma  mater?  Must  they  not  lend  that  assist- 
ance? The  ghetto  problem  is  complex.  Its  solution  is  still 
distant.  But  it  will  never  be  found,  until  there  is  an  enthusiastic 
exercise  and  a  hearty  co-operation  of  all  the  forces  at  Israel's 
command. 

II.  Suggestions. 

1.  Like  Zangwill,  Gordon  describes  the  London  ghetto.  Yet 
how  differently  he  views  it!  The  Ansells  and  the  Lipcotts  do 
not  seem  to  inhabit  the  same  world. 

2.  Both  Zangwill  and  Gordon  are  products  of  East  London. 
Both  know  the  life  it  shelters,  though  to  the  one  it  spells  de- 
spair, to  the  other,  hope.  There  is  more  than  one  side  to  Jew- 
ish life. 


ii8  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 

3.  "  The  Children  of  the  Ghetto  "  Hve  in  the  past  and  present. 
The  Sons  of  the  Covenant  "  in  the  present  and  future. 

4.  Not  all  tlic  ghetto  is  of  one  level.  It  is  a  world  in  itself, 
almost  unto  itself.  In  it  lives  Moses  Ansell,  but  also  Reb  Shem- 
uel.    In  it  lives  Yellow  Joe,  but  the  Lipcotts  live  there  also. 

5.  Not  all  conservative  Jewish  life  is  honest,  nor  all  reform 
hypocritical.  Appearances  are  often  deceitful."  There  is  no 
royal  road  to  real  religiousness,  but  poverty  can  claim  no  mo- 
nopoly on  it.  Not  all  the  wealthy  Jews  are  Goldsmiths.  There 
are  Duveens,  too. 

6.  Gordon's  solution  for  the  ghetto  problem  is  in  accordance 
with  the  best  philanthropic  and  sociological  ideas  of  the  day. 

7.  Leuw  and  Phil  return  to  help  their  coreligionists.  The 
ghetto  must  largely  solve  its  own  problems. 

8.  ''All  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men  "  produced  "  The  Palace 
of  Delight."  Perhaps  The  Sons  of  the  Covenant  "  vv^ill  also 
not  be  w^ithout  material  result.  The  Maccabees  in  London  are 
now  considering  Mr.  Gordon's  plan.  The  pen  may  yet  save  the 
world. 

9.  Christopher  argues  that  the  Jew  and  Scotchman  are 
baked  in  the  same  oven."  It  is  not  the  first  time  the  argument 
has  found  expression. 

10.  Phil  is  a  ''  Dreamer  of  the  Ghetto."  Uncle  Bram  is  emi- 
nently practical.  Leuw,  to  a  certain  degree,  combines  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  two.  The  Jew  is  not  always  tlie  same.  Now 
he  dreams.  Now  he  is  all  business.  Now  religious  ideals  lead 
him  on,  now  commercial  ambitions. 

11.  But  the  Jew  has  always  been  interested  in  social  problems, 
in  Socialism  at  its  best.  The  prophets  of  Israel  were  the  world's 
first  agitators  for  social  justice. 

12.  And  the  Jew  practiced  wdiat  he  preached.  He  clamored 
for  righteousness,  for  equality,  for  charity,  and  he  exemplified  in 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction  119 

his  own  life  his  precepts.  He  cared  for  his  poor.  Therefore  the 
world  knows  little  of  Jewish  poor,  and  therefore  the  world  deems 
every  Jew  rich. 

13.  But  the  Jew  does  not  believe  in  force,  in  revolution.  He 
dreams,  but  he  will  not  murder  to  reahze  his  dreams.  He  has 
ideals,  but  he  lives,  waits  and  labors,  until  they  come  true.  All 
things  come  to  him  who  waits  "  and  deserves.  The  Jew  neither 
destroys  nor  wastes.  He  wishes  to  lift  m.en,  so  he  uses  prac- 
tical methods. 

14.  David  Brandon  comes  from  the  Cape.  Leuw  spends  seven 
years  there.  The  Jew  has  been  prominent  in  the  development 
of  South  Africa. 

15.  Esther  Ansell  returns  to  the  ghetto.  So  Leuw,  so  Phil 
The  ghetto  claims  its  own. 

HI.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

1.  Contrast  the  ghetto  of  Zangwill  with  that  of  Gordon.  How 
can  you  explain  the  difference? 

2.  Can  writers  describe  things  as  they  are? 

3.  What  is  the  problem  of  The  Sons  of  the  Covenant  "  ? 
What  solution  does  Gordon  offer?  What  other  solutions  have 
been  offered?    Have  you  a  solution  of  your  own? 

4.  Is  the  ghetto  problem  limited  to  the  larger  cities? 

5.  How  can  the  ghetto  still  exist  when  officially  it  is  long 
dead? 

6.  What  characteristics  have  the  Scotchnian  and  the  Jew  in 
common?   How  about  the  Jew  in  Scotland? 

7.  The  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword."  What  have  books 
done  for  the  v\/orld.    How  have  they  directly  benefited  it? 

8.  How  comes  it  that  Jews  were  responsible  for  the  birth  of 
Socialism?   Have  they  contributed  also  to  its  growth? 


I20 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


9.  Compare  Mrs.  Goldsmith  and  Mrs.  Duveen,  Raphael  Leon 
and  Phil  Lipcott. 

10.  Which  appeals  to  you  the  more,  "  The  Children  of  the 
Ghetto  "  or  ''The  Sons  of  the  Covenant  "  ?   Can  you  tell  why? 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 

Gordon's  Jewish  Stories. 
'*  Daughters  of  Shem." 

Same  with  Some  Additions.    "  Strangers  at  the  Gate.'' 

"  Sons  of  the  Covenant.'' 
Gordon  and  the  London  Ghetto. 

Haas,  "  Jewish  Comment,"  March  29,  1901. 
The  Jewish  Question. 

Beaulieu,    Israel  Among  the  Nations." 

Waldstein,    The  Jewish  Question." 

Smith,    Questions  of  the  Day." 

White,  "  The  Modern  Jew." 

Eliot,    The  Modern  Hep,  Hep,"  in    Impressions  of  Theo- 

phrastus  Such." 
Jewish  Encyclopedia,  ''Anti-Semitism." 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 
For  Passover. 

Heber,  "  Passage  of  the  Red  Sea." 

Zangwill  ''  Chad  Gadya,"  in    Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto." 
Wolfenstein,  "  How  Schimmele  Became  a  Skeptic  "  in  Idylls 
of  the  Gass." 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


121 


LESSON  XV. 

I.    Required  Reading. 
The  Heirs  of  Yesterday."   Emma  Wolf. 

In  the  article,  ''Concerning  the  Jews/'  to  which  reference 
has  already  been  made,  Mark  Twain,  after  denying  that  preju- 
dice against  the  Jew  is  the  product  of  religious  fanaticism,  sug- 
gests that  it  is  born  of  the  fact  that  the  Jew  is  a  money-getter." 
He  does  not  point  this  out  as  a  failing  of  the  Jew  exclusively. 
He  states  emphatically  that  the  Jew  began  to  strive  for  wealth, 
because  of  the  degree  to  which  he  saw  it  everywhere  worshiped. 
But  when  once  he  entered  the  contest,  he  was  certain  of  victory. 
Wherever  he  went  fortune  smiled  on  him.  No  matter  how 
shrewd  his  opponent,  the  Jew  always  found  success  and  found 
with  it  hatred.    For  men  who  fail  dislike  those  who  succeed. 

That  the  argument  sounds  plausible,  no  one  will  deny.  That 
it  explains  the  Jewish  Question,  will  not  so  readily  be  admitted. 
The  question  is  too  large  and  intricate  to  find  so  ready  and 
simple  an  answer.  In  the  first  place  it  is  not  everywhere  the 
same.  Russia  dislikes  the  Jew  because  he  is  not  of  the  state 
church,  and  it  is  convinced  state  and  church  ought  to  be  one. 
France  is  prejudiced  against  the  Jew  because  it  claims  he  be- 
longs to  the  Semitic  race,  and  the  Semitic  race  it  feels  is  a 
menace  to  the  higher  civilization  of  the  world.  Germany  hates 
the  Jew  because  it  thinks  political  capital  can  be  made  of  that 
hatred.  America  discriminates  against  the  Jew  socially,  because 
it  does  not  believe  him  to  be  cultured. 

So  much  for  national  attitudes.  Other  reasons  cross  national 
boundaries;  atavism,  ignorance  of  the  truth  of  the  Jew%  bigotry. 
Then  the  Jew  is  in  the  minority,  and  it  is  characteristic  of  minori- 
ties to  be  disliked.    And  finally  the  Jew  himself  is  not  altogether 


122 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


free  from  responsibility.  He  did  not  create  the  situation,  but  he 
has  undoubtedly  assisted  in  its  development. 

What  does  Mark  Twain  mean  by  saying  the  Jew  is  a  money- 
getter?  "  Does  he  mean  the  Jew  usually  manages  to  make  a  liv- 
ing, labors  patiently  at  whatever  he  undertakes,  does  not  grow 
discouraged  at  failure?  If  so,  we  give  him  our  agreement.  But 
if  he  means  to  suggest  that  the  Jew  has  a  monopoly  on  wealth  or 
success,  we  beg  to  dififer.  There  are  Jews  of  wealth.  There  are 
Christians  who  are  wealthier.  Further,  the  Jew  has  more  than 
his  share  of  poverty.  The  world  does  not  know  it,  for  the  Jew 
always  cares  for  his  own. 

Nevertheless  the  Jew  is  energetic  and  ambitious.  He  is  full 
of  business.  He  grasps  every  opportunity.  He  goes  wherever 
prospects  are  promising.  He  went  to  South  Africa  when  first 
it  came  into  prominence.  He  crossed  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Rockies  when  Westward  the  course  of  Empire  "  took  its  way, 
and  he  contributed  his  share  to  the  growth  and  development 
of  California, 

Fifty  years  ago  the  Jews  of  the  West  were  few  in  number. 
A  small  congregation  had  been  organized  in  San  Francisco. 
Otherwise  Jewish  congregational  and  communal  life  were  prac- 
tically unknown.  But  in  the  half  century  that  has  passed  since 
then,  the  West  has  made  rapid  strides,  and  the  Jew  has  kept 
pace  with  the  life  around  him.  To-day  the  Golden  Gate  "  is 
to  the  West,  what  New  York  is  to  the  East,  a  metropolis  reflect- 
ing every  phase  of  life,  and  every  phase  of  Jewish  life.  There 
are  rich  Jews  and  poor  Jews,  Orthodox  Jews  and  Reform  Jews, 
Jews  of  yesterday  and  Jews  of  to-day. 

It  is  of  this  community  that  Emma  Wolf  writes,  but  she  tells 
of  but  its  one  phase.  Abraham  Cahan  writes  of  Jewish  life  in 
America,  too,  but  he  speaks  always  of  the  ghetto.  We  confess 
but  a  hearsay  acquaintance  with  Jewish  life  beyond  the  Middle 
West.    But  so  far  as  we  have  observed,  the  further  West  one 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


123 


goes,  the  less  one  finds  of  the  ghetto,  save  of  course  in  the 
large  cities.  Chicago  is  of  the  Middle  West,  yet  it  certainly 
knows  its  Jewish  quarter.  And  so  San  Francisco.  Still  it  is 
evident  that  the  ghetto  here  is  not  that  of  the  East.  That  may 
explain  why  to  many  in  the  West  real  ghetto  life  is  unknown. 
That  may  explain  why  Emma  Wolf  does  not  speak  of  it.  The 
life  of  which  she  tells  us,  is  that  which  has  outgrown  the  world 
with  which  Cahan  and  Zangwill  and  Gordon  concern  them- 
selves, a  life  that  has  left  behind  the  external  characteristics  that 
once  distinguished  it  in  dress  and  manner  and  speech,  and  has 
well  nigh  identified  itself  with  the  world  without. 

Perhaps  Emma  Wolf  purposely  avoids  all  reference  to  the 
ghetto,  because  she  is  interested  in  a  problem  that  does  not 
concern  it.  For  the  Jew  of  the  Jewish  quarter,  wherever  it  may 
be,  is  practically  cut  off  from  the  world  without.  He  lives  a  life 
of  his  own.  He  does  not  come  under  the  direct  influence  of  the 
progressive  currents  of  modern  life,  and  so  he  need  not  fear 
them.  The  ghetto  may  keep  him  behind  the  times,  but  it  keeps 
him  distinct  as  well. 

With  the  Jew  who  has  left  the  ghetto  the  case  is  altogether 
different..  In  everything  save  religious  conviction,  he  is  like  his 
non-Jewish  neighbor.  Yet  his  neighbor  represents  a  majority, 
and  he  a  minority.  Will  his  religious  convictions  be  sufficient  to 
enable  him  to  maintain  his  identity,  in  the  face  of  the  many  non- 
Jewish  influences  with  which  he  is  daily  thrown  into  contact? 
Zangwill  tells  us  of  "  Dreamers  "  whose  lives  illustrated  this  situ- 
ation, and  who,  after  battling  in  vain  against  the  forces  that 
surrounded  them  when  they  left  the  ghetto,  at  last  gave  up  the 
struggle  and  surrendered.  Are  we  to  gather  our  answer  from 
these  tragedies?  There  was  a  time  when  I  believe  Zangwill 
himself  would  not  have  suggested  this,  but  that  was  before  he 
became  a  Zionist.  Then  he  could  say  that  the  solution  to 
the  Jewish  problem  m.ight  be  found  "  in  an  immense  strength- 


124         The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 

ening  of  the  Jewish  spiritual  consciousness,  a  burning  convic- 
tion of  some  great  world  part  to  play,  some  great  world  end  to 
serve,  and  one  that  can  be  even  better  served  by  diffused  isola- 
tion, than  concentrated  isolation/'  But  now  he  apparently  sees 
no  such  possibility.  To-day  he  sees  no  hope  for  the  Jew,  unless 
he  leaves  the  country  of  his  birth  or  adoption,  where  he  strug- 
gles in  vain  against  the  forces  around  him,  goes  back  to  Pales- 
tine, and  creates  there  a  Jewish  state,  where  every  man  shall 
sit  under  his  vine  and  fig  tree  and  there  shall  be  none  to  make 
him  afraid." 

That  Emma  Wolf  was  influenced  by  Zangwill  can  scarcely  be 
doubted.  But  while  that  influence  is  discernible  throughout  her 
stories,  she  does  not  permit  it  to  overshadow  her  individuality. 
She  too  wonders  how  the  Jew  who  has  thrown  off  so  many  dis- 
tinguishing features,  will  manage  to  remain  Jewish  in  a  world 
of  untoward  influence.  Like  Zangwill  she  is  scarcely  sanguine 
of  the  outcome.  She  prophesies  defeat  as  the  result  for  the 
Jew.  She  even  counsels  him  to  accept  it  graciously.  But  she 
does  not  bid  him  leave  the  country  wherein  he  dwells,  and  trans- 
form his  religious  heritage  into  a  mere  political  scheme.  No! 
She  would  have  the  Jew  continue  diminishing  instead  of  increas- 
ing the  distance  between  the  Christian  and  himself.  You  say 
the  result  will  be  intermarriage.  Other  things  being  equal," 
she  does  not  object  even  to  that.  Indeed,  at  one  time  she  would 
have  given  it  her  hearty  approval.  Now  however,  she  has 
little  fear  that  that  will  be  the  outcome.  The  danger  is  rather 
seeming  than  real.  In  the  first  place  the  Jew  is  Heir  of  Yes- 
terday," and  do  what  he  will,  he  cannot  rid  himself  of  that  heri- 
tage. In  the  second  place,  try  as  he  may  to  do  away  with  his 
differences,  to  the  world  at  large  he  will  always  be  a  Jew,  re- 
spected by  it  perhaps,  but  hardly  welcomed  to  a  permanent 
place  in  its  social  circles. 

"  I  resolved  to  break  the  chain,"  said  Philip.      You  cannot 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction  125 

break  the  chain/'  answered  Jean.  These  two  forces,  tradition 
and  prejudice,  one  of  the  past,  the  other  of  the  present,  will  keep 
the  Jew,  Jew,  and  prevent  Israel's  disappearance. 

So  the  Jew  need  not  worry  about  his  continuance.  Let  him 
be  contented  with  the  present  day  conditions.  Let  him  remem- 
ber the  millennium  is  not  yet  here.  Let  him  bear  the  world's  pre- 
judice and  care  not.  In  spite  of  that  world,  in  spite  of  himself, 
he  will  live  on. 

The  advice  sounds  reasonable,  does  it  not?  But  while  it  may 
sufifice  for  those  to  whom  Judaism  was  what  it  was  to  Heine, 
''a  misfortune,"  for  those  who  like  Philip  May  would  like  to 
mingle  in  circles  where  as  Jews  they  would  not  be  welcome,  it 
has  no  meaning  for  the  Jew  who  has  in  him  a  spark  of  manhood. 
Such  a  Jew  is  content  to  remain  Jew,  is  not  ashamed  of  his  faith, 
does  not  try  to  conceal  it,  does  not  see  why  any  one  should 
try  to  conceal  it.  He  is  proud  of  his  heritage,  glories  in  what 
his  ancestors  did,  glories  in  being  permitted  to  continue  their 
work.  He  rejoices  in  Israel's  immortality.  He  feels  it  the  work- 
ing of 

"  A  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends. 
Rough  hew  them  how  we  will." 

But  he  is  not  satisfied  to  feel  that  he  is  Jew  only  because  he 
cannot  help  it,  because  there  are  forces  outside  him  compelling 
him  to  remain  within  the  fold,  because  he  was  born  a  Jew. 
That  is  not  enough  for  him.  He  will  be  positive  Jew  or  no  Jew, 
emphasizing  Jewish  teachings,  giving  them  daily  expression  and 
finding  in  them  justification  for  the  life  that  is  his.  That  he  is 
in  the  minority  does  not  worry  him.  That  the  world  does  not 
like  him  gives  him  equally  little  worry.  He  is  patient  but  he 
is  hopeful,  because  he  is  Jewish.  One  day  his  dream  will  be 
realized.   In  the  meantime  he  will  live  up  to  his  convictions. 


126  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


II.  Suggestions. 

1.  Thus  far  we  have  considered  studies  of  Jewish  Ufa  in  Eng- 
land, in  Italy,  in  Spain,  in  Germany,  in  Palestine.  With  The 
Heirs  of  Yesterday,"  we  turn  to  America.  Like  Emma  Wolf, 
Emma  Lazarus  was  born  here,  but  her  Dance  to  Death  " 
touched  times  and  lands  not  of  her  birth. 

2.  Observe  that  the  Heirs  of  Yesterday  "  treats  of  modern 
Jewish  life  outside  the  ghetto.  Besant  touched  that  life.  Zang- 
will  in  the  second  volume  of  his  Children  of  the  Ghetto,"  went 
further  than  Besant,  and  Gordon  distanced  both.  But  all  at 
some  time  come  back  to  the  ghetto,  and  all  tell  us  of  Jewish 
life  in  England.  Emma  Wolfs  characters,  like  "  The  Rebel 
Queen,"  "  The  Children  of  the  Ghetto  "  and  The  Sons  of  the 
Covenant,"  are  Heirs  of  Yesterday,"  but  they  have  left  the 
home  and  life  their  fathers  knew.   They  dwell  in  a  new  world. 

3.  Still,  that  world,  while  it  differs  from,  is  the  child  of, 
the  old  world.  America  is  merely  an  offspring  of  England,  and 
the  American  Jew  of  to-day  is  merely  an  evolution  of  the  Jew 
of  yesterday. 

4.  Similarly,  Reform  Judaism  is  not  a  newly  invented  religion. 
It  is  the  old  Judaism  grown  and  developed. 

5.  The  Heirs  of  Yesterday  "  is  not  the  first  attempt  to  pic- 
ture Jewish  life  in  America.    It  is  not  Emma  Wolfs  first  attempt, 

Other  Things  Being  Equal "  appearing  several  years  ago. 
We  give  it  place  in  our  syllabus,  however,  because  it  gives  the 
most  adequate  expression  of  the  life  with  which  it  deals. 

6.  In  Lesson  XIV,  we  remarked  that  Jews  had  been  promi- 
nent in  the  development  of  South  Africa.  They  were  equally 
prominent  in  the  remarkable  and  rapid  growth  of  California  and 
the  West.  The  Jew  is  not  merely  camp  follower;  he  is  pioneer 
as  well. 

7.  But  go  where  he  may,  the  Jew  finds  discrimination.  Philip 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


127 


May  finds  it  in  Germany,  but  he  finds  it  in  San  Francisco,  too. 
Still  the  Jewish  Question  of  Europe  is  hardly  known  here.  There 
it  is  national,  racial,  religious,  economic.    Here  it  is  mainly 
social. 

8.  Will  the  Jewish  Question  ever  find  complete  answer?  Ap- 
parently Emma  Wolf  doubts  it.  Jew  and  Christian  run  parallel 
courses  and  Science  proves  that,  this  side  infinity,  parallels 
never  meet "  (Foreword).  But  Jew  and  non-Jew  are  nearer 
each  other  to-day  than  they  were  yesterday.  Prejudice  against 
the  Jew  is  not  nearly  as  intense  as  once  it  was.  The  Jew  is 
better  known  and  more  respected.  Why  doubt  that  the  prog- 
ress will  continue? 

9.  The  Jew  is  at  least  his  neighbor's  equal.  Therefore,  he  is 
justified  in  refusing  condescension,  and  demanding  full  recog- 
nition of  his  rig^hts.  We  glory  in  the  Jew  who  by  virtue  of  his 
personality,  by  employing  aright  his  every  power,  compels  the 
world  to  do  him  justice.  But  we  have  only  contempt  for  the 
Jew  who,  to  gain  formal  recognition,  will  deny  or  conceal  his 
identity,  and  so  sacrifice  his  self-respect. 

10.  "  I  wanted  to  be  successful  socially  as  well  as  professio- 
nally," says  Philip  (p.  32).  To'  be  a  Jew  has  always  meant  to 
struggle  against  odds  and  labor  under  disadvantages.  Yet,  while 
he  has  more  than  his  share  of  poor,  the  Jew  has  usually  suc- 
ceeded commercially  and  professionally.  Mark  Twain  attrib- 
utes his  success  to  his  honesty.  His  patience  and  ability  must 
not  be  left  out  of  account. 

11.  ''Whenever  a  Jew  fails  to  be  proud  of  his  birth,  it  is 
through  cowardice  or  ignorance,  or  both.  And  whenever  a 
Christian  is  unjust  to  a  Jew,  it  is  through  cowardice  or  igno- 
rance, or  both."  (Philip,  p.  238).  The  conclusion  holds  good 
for  most  cases  but  not  for  all.  Where  cowardice  is  gone  and 
ignorance  is  unknown,  the  Jew  may  still  be  disliked. 


128 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


12.  Philip  May  does  not  know  Judaism,  and  does  not  care  to 
fight  the  battle  an  avowal  of  his  faith  would  involve.  Therefore, 
he  passes  for  what  he  is  not.  Therefore,  he  has  little  of  our 
respect. 

13.  Paul  Stein  knows  his  Judaism.  But,  because  his  Judaism 
is  liberal,  Philip  finds  it  difficult  to  believe  him  Jewish.  I  think 
you  are  rather  a  radical  Jew,''  he  says,  to  which  Paul  responds. 

If  that  means  rational.''  Once  every  rational  Jew  was  called 
Christian  or  atheist.  To-day  he  is  called  radical.  To-morrow, 
he  may  be  called  reform,  and  the  next  day  conservative. 

14.  No  rational  Jew  is  mere  iconoclast.  He  adjusts  himself 
to  his  environment,  but  he  still  remembers  the  past  and  has 
reverence  for  tradition.  He  is  still  conscious  "  Heir  of  Yes- 
terday." 

15.  Philip,  a  physician.  Both  he  and  Jean,  musical.  The  Jew 
is  conspicuous  for  his  ability  in  both  directions. 

HI.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

1.  How  do  the  Heirs  of  Yesterday  "  differ  from  the  "  Chil- 
dren of  the  Ghetto  "  and  the    Sons  of  the  Covenant  "  ? 

2.  Why  does  Emma  Wolf  call  the  Jews  of  to-day  The  Heirs 
of  Yesterday  "  ? 

3.  Distinguish  between  a  "  Radical "  and  Reform,''  a  "  Radi- 
cal "  and    Rational  "  Jew. 

4.  Is  Reform  Judaism  a  new  religion  or  a  development  of 
an  old? 

5.  What  part  did  the  Jews  play  in  the  "  Winning  of  the 
West "  ? 

6.  How  does  the  Jewish  Question  in  Europe  differ  from  the 
same  question  here? 

7.  Is  the  Jew  responsible  for  that  question?  If  so,  how  can 
he  contribute  to  its  answer? 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


129 


8.  Philip,  I  resolved  to  break  the  chain/'  Jean,  You  cannot 
break  the  chain."  What  is  the  chain?  Can  it  never  be  broken? 
Why? 

9.  Jean,  ''one  of  those  modern  anachronisms,  a  woman  with 
ideals/'  Why  an  anachronism?  Is  the  Jewess  of  to-day  a  wo- 
man with  ideals?  How  explain  the  cynicism  in  which  many 
young  women  of  to-day  delight?  Is  woman  more  religious  than 
man?  Why? 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 

Emma  Wolf  has  written: 

"  Other  Things  Being  Equal.'' 

"  A  Prodigal  in  Love." 

"  The  Song  of  Life." 

"  Heirs  of  Yesterday." 
The  Jew  in  the  West. 

V oorsanger,     Jews  on  the  Pacific  Coast,"  American  Jews 
Annual,  1889. 
Chronicle  of  Emanuel." 

Jewish  Encyclopedia,  California." 
The  Jew  in  America. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia. 

Daly,  "  The  Settlement  of  the  Jews  in  America." 
Martens,    The  Hebrews  in  America." 

Wolf,  The  American  Jew  as  Patriot,  Soldier  and  Citizen." 
"  A  Victim  of  Conscience,"  a  story  of  American  Jewish  life, 

by  Milton  Goldsmith. 
Publications  of  American  Jewish  Historical  Society. 
The  Jews  and  Medicine. 

Abrahams,    Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  234,  365. 
Graetz,  Index.  Physicians." 
Karpeles,  "  Jewish  Literature,"  369-379. 


130 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


Sale,    Contributions  of  Jews  to  the  Preservation  of  Sciences 
in  the  Middle  Ages/'  in    Judaism  at  the  World's  Par- 
liament of  Religion,"  193-203. 
Breaking  the  Chain. 

Hosmer,    The  Jews,"  235,  253. 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 

Aldrich,  "  The  Jew's  Gift." 
Kompert,    Debby  and  her  Door.'" 


I 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction  131 


LESSON  XVI. 

1.  Required  Reading, 
"  Deborah."  James  Ludlow. 
It  is  a  far  cry  back  to  the  days  of  the  Maccabees,  but  history 
often  repeats  itself.  The  problem  confronting  the  Jews  to-day 
faced  the  Jews  of  yesterday  as  well.  To-day  the  problem  is  in 
large  measure  the  product  of  Christian  influence.  In  those  days 
Grecian  influence  was  responsible.  Greek  culture  was  spread- 
ing and  exerting  its  sway  in  every  direction.  To  that  culture 
Israel  began  to  bow  the  head  and  bend  the  knee."  Idolatry? 
Yes.  Jews  adopted  Greek  customs,  habits,  ideas.  Gradually 
the  new  civilization  began  to  insinuate  itself  into  Jewish  phil- 
osophy, until  it  appeared  that  Jewish  distinctiveness  would  be 
but  a  memory. 

But  persecution  saved  Israel  then,  as  it  saved  it  before  and 
since.  Antiochus  IV,  who  ascended  the  Syrian  throne  175  B.  C, 
had  also  fallen  under  the  spell  of  Hellenistic  influence.  Touched 
by  that  influence  himself,  nothing  would  have  pleased  him  more 
than  to  see  it  gather  all  his  dominions  under  its  wings.  That 
would  unify  his  kingdom.  As  far  as  the  Jews  were  concerned, 
had  he  himself  not  interfered,  his  hope  might  have  been  realized. 
To  settle  the  priestly  quarrel  among  the  Jews,  he  came  to 
Jerusalem  in  169  and  plundered  the  temple.  That  awakened 
the  Jews  from  their  dream.  Antiochus  stood  for  Greek  culture. 
Well,  if  he  were  a  specimen  of  its  influence,  they  wanted  no  more 
of  it.  Soon  after  (168),  Antiochus  was  humiliated  by  the  Roman 
ambassadors  in  Egypt.  He  returned  to  Palestine,  furious. 
Whether  because,  as  Mahaffy  suggests,  the  Jews  had  been 
partly  responsible  for  that  humiliation,  or  because  he  wished  to 
consolidate  his  empire,  or  because  he  wished  to  prevent  defec- 


132  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


tion  from  his  standard,  or  because  he  was  in  need  of  money, 
he  determined  at  once  to  hellenize  Judea. 

What  the  Jews  had  been  doing  up  to  the  year  169,  of  their 
own  free  will,  they  now  resolutely  refused  to  do  under  the  lash 
of  compulsion.  The  revolt  began  in  167.  Under  the  leadership 
of  Mattathias  and  his  brave  sons,  the  Syrian  hosts  were  de- 
feated a^ain  and  again.  In  two  years  Syrian  pride  had  been 
crushed,  and  Greek  influence  put  to  flight.  On  the  25th  day 
of  Kislev,  165  B.  C,  victorious  Israel  returned  to  Jerusalem, 
whence  it  had  been  driven,  rededicated  the  temple  that  had  been 
desecrated  and  defiled,  and  instituted  the  festival  of  Hanukah. 

Over  2000  years  have  passed  since  then,  but  the  Maccabean 
victory  still  has  a  message  for  us.  We  are  threatened  by  forces 
about  us.  Then  it  is  for  us  not  to  flee,  not  to  try  to  conceal 
our  identity,  or  pass  for  what  we  are  not,  but  to  assert  our  posi- 
tion boldly  and  defend  it,  to  stand  up  for  our  own,  to  give  as 
good  as  we  receive,  and  strike  blow  for  blow.  Not  cowardice 
will  save  us,  but  courage.  Judaism  is  worth  fighting  for,  living 
for,  dying  for. 

Dr.  Ludlow  is  not  the  first  to  treat  the  Maccabean  period  in 
fiction.  First  Alfred  Church  wrote  The  Hammer,"  a  juvenile. 
Then  came  Charlotte  Yonge's  The  Patriots  of  Palestine,''  a 
book  for  adults,  but  poor  for  anybody.  Deborah ''  is  a  book 
for  old  and  young,  and  good  for  both.  It  shows  an  exact  ac- 
quaintance with  Jewish  history,  and  an  unusual  sympathy  with 
Jewish  life.  The  figures  that  played  so  important  a  role  in  those 
days  when  men's  souls  were  tried,  are  brought  out  clearly,  while 
the  characters,  which  are  the  products  of  the  author's  own  fancy, 
are  exceedingly  life-like.  Indeed  they  seem  to  us  as  historic 
as  the  real  individuals  with  whom  they  associate.  Is  that  not  in 
itself  a  tribute  to  the  author's  ability?  Furthermore,  Deborah  " 
shows  us  what  history  seldom  portrays,  the  human  side  of 
the  men  and  women  of  whom  it  speaks.    Judas  is  a  warrior, 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


133 


giving  his  all  for  his  people,  but  he  is  still  a  man.    And  Deborah 

herself,  type  of  the  Jewish  woman  of  those  stirring  days,  is  no 
less  the  woman  because  of  the  dangers  she  hazards,  and  the 
labors  she  performs.  Should  she  seem  unnatural  to  you,  remem- 
ber she  lived  in  the  long-ago,  in  an  age  when  plow-shares  were 
beaten  into  swords  and  pruning  hooks  into  spears,  when  the  fate 
of  her  people  hung  in  the  balance,  when  it  was  not  considered 
unwomanly  for  mother  and  daughter  to  contribute  by  direct 
efforts  to  their  country's  safety  and  welfare.  Of  course  Deborahs 
are  few  in  number.    Alas  for  that! 

Dr.  Ludlow  has  caught  well  the  spirit  of  the  Maccabean  times. 
There  are  little  inaccuracies  here  and  there.  But  considering 
the  material  with  which  he  had  to  work,  and  the  large  measure 
of  the  work  that  is  purely  his  own,  it  is  remarkable  that  the 
inaccuracies  are  so  few  in  number.  We  catch  in  the  book  the 
atmosphere  in  which  the  people  of  the  time  lived.  We  get  to 
_  understand  why  Greek  culture  appealed  so  to  the  people.  We 
see  the  progress  it  made  in  gathering  Israel  within  its  embrace. 
We  see  the  renegade  Jews  who  hurt  the  Jewish  cause  so  much. 
We  catch  the  staunch  and  sturdy  Jewish  spirit,  which,  outraged 
by  Syrian  insolence,  finally  rose  in  its  wrath  and  saved  Israel. 
We  see  the  valor  and  courage  of  men  fighting  for  home  and 
faith.  We  see  the  genius  of  a  commander,  who  has  written  his 
name  indelibly  on  the  world's  record  of  wondrous  military 
achievement.  And  finally  we  see  a  handful  of  Jews,  by  virtue 
of  the  righteousness  of  their  cause,  giving  Syrian  might  its 
death  blow.  It  is  a  glorious  picture,  full  of  powerful  appeal, 
full  of  inspiration.  Ludlow  has  given  that  picture  sympathetic 
and  accurate  expression  and  in  doing  so  has  helped  Judaism 
and  the  Jew. 

II.  Suggestions. 
I.  In  168  B.  C,  Antiochus  Epiphanes  was  besieging  Alexan- 
dria, in  Egypt,  when  a  Roman  envoy  appeared,  demanded  that 


134  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


he  raise  the  siege,  and  depart  at  once.  To  defy  Rome  then,  was 
out  of  the  question.  Antiochus  yielded,  but  with  the  determi- 
nation that,  as  soon  as  he  could  weld  together  the  different 
nationalities  of  which  his  empire  was  composed,  he  would  return 
and  compel  Rome  to  regret  its  insolence.  To  achieve  this  end, 
he  decreed  that  all  his  subjects  should  adopt  one  form  of  faith, 
his  own. 

2.  Prof.  Mahafify  suggests  as  explanation  of  the  determination 
of  Antiochus  either  to  hellenize  or  exterminate  Israel,  that  in 
some  way  the  nationalist  party  in  Judea,  and  their  relations  in 
Egypt,  must  have  thwarted  his  advance  (against  Alexandria), 
and  (so)  marred  his  campaign.  ...  It  seems  likely,  that  this 
opportunity  of  the  patriotic  party  in  Judea  hindered  his  march, 
and  so  caused  his  signal  failure  at  the  moment  of  victory." 

3.  Other  facts  may  have  contributed  to  the  policy  of  Antio- 
chus. Not  only  did  he  wish  to  secure  a  force  with  which  to 
overthrow  Rome,  but  he  wished  to  forestall  the  possible  dissolu- 
tion of  his  empire,  threatened  by  Rome.  Then  he  was  in  need 
of  money,  and  felt  that  such  an  assertion  of  autocratic  power 
would  secure  it.  And  finally,  he  was  irritated  by  the  continu- 
ous quarrelling  among  the  priests  in  Jerusalem,  and  determined 
to  put  an  end  to  it,  once  and  for  all. 

4.  Remember,  however,  that  the  Jews  themselves  gave 
Antiochus  the  first  opportunity  of  interfering  in  their  domestic 
affairs.  Coming  to  Jerusalem  apparently  to  restore  Menelaus 
to  the  priesthood,  Antiochus  took  occasion  to  despoil  the  sanc- 
tuary. 

5.  That  action  prevented  the  spread  of  the  Greek  culture, 
which  Antiochus  represented  but  scarcely  appreciated,  which 
had  already  found  favor  with  many  of  the  Jews,  and  which,  with- 
out direct  influence  on  the  king's  part,  threatened  to  hellenize  all 
of  Israel.    The  Jews  may  have  opened  the  way  for  Syrian  inter- 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


1.35 


ference,  but  Antiochus  gave  life  to  the  very  opposition  he  found 
himself  later  unable  to-  overcome. 

6.  The  Maccabean  struggle  thus  became  a  contest  between 
Greek  and  Jewish  civilization.  On  the  part  of  Antiochus  it  was 
merely  an  attempt  to  level  distinctions.  To  the  Jews  it  was  a 
question  of  life  and  death.  To  yield,  meant  to  give  up  all  that 
made  them  what  they  were. 

7.  In  those  days  there  was  a  vital  connection  between  Church 
and  State.  They  stood  and  fell  together.  The  Maccabees 
fought  for  religious  liberty,  but  they  won  political  independence 
as  well. 

8.  Ye  meant  it  for  evil,  but  God  meant  it  for  good.''  The 
persecution  of  Antiochus  saved  Judaism,  and  so  the  Jews. 
There  are  often  dangers  in  emancipation,  as  there  are  often 
blessings  in  adversity. 

9.  But  the  conqueror  was  also  conquered.  The  Jew  won, 
but  the  Greek  did  not  give  up  the  struggle  until  he  had  influ- 
enced Jewish  life  and  thought. 

10.  That  influence  virtually  divided  the  Jews  into  two  parties; 
the  Hasidim,  or  Saints,  zealous  for  the  law,  who  kept  Judaism 
as  had  their  fathers,  and  to  whom  every  Jewish  custom  was 
sacred;  and  the  Zaddikim,  or  Righteous,  who  prided  themselves 
on  their  liberal  views,  who  opened  the  door  to  Greek  Influence, 
and  so  became  known  as  Hellenists. 

11.  Judaism  is  a  religion  that  grows  and  develops.  Such  a 
religion,  adjusting  itself  to  its  environment,  has  no  hesitancy  in 
assimilating  the  best  of  that  with  which  it  comes  into  contact. 
But  many  a  Jew  confuses  assimilation  with  imitation. 

12.  As  an  illustration  of  Greek  influence  on  Jewish  life  observe 
the  change  of  names.  Menahem  becomes  Menelaus,  Joshua, 
Jason,  and  Eljakim,  Alcimus. 


136 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


13.  Keep  the  following  dates  in  mind: 

175  B.  C.  E.  Antiochus  IV  ascends  the  throne. 
173  Jason  is  made  high  priest. 

172       "       Menelaus  succeeds  Jason. 
169       "       Antiochus  plunders  the  Temple. 
168       "       Antiochus  is  bidden  by  Roman  ambas- 
;  sadors  to  leave  Egypt. 

Temple  at  Jerusalem  is  desecrated. 
167       "       Mattathias  begins  the  revolt. 
166  Death  of  Mattathias. 

Judas  becomes  commander. 

Battle  of  Beth-Horon. 

Battle  of  Emmaus. 
i6s       "       Battle  of  Beth  Zur. 

Judas  re-enters  Jerusalem. 

Festival  of  Dedication. 
164  Death  of  Antiochus. 

14.  Refer  to  the  map  at  end  of  Deborah  for  places  men- 
tioned in  the  book. 

15.  Greece  gave  the  world  art;  Rome,  law;  Israel,  religion. 
The  Hebrews  drank  of  the  fountain,  the  Greeks  from  the 

stream,  and  the  Romans  from  the  pool."  (Kohut.)  The  Greeks 
were  only  handsome  youths,  but  the  Jews  have  always  been 
men."  (Heine.) 

16.  Ludlow  confesses  in  his  ''note''  that  he  has  availed  him- 
self of  an  author's  privilege,  and  has  supplemented  by  aid  of 
his  imagination  the  meagre  records  at  his  disposal.  Dion  and 
Caleb  and  Meph,  and  even  Deborah  herself,  are  merely  chil- 
dren of  his  fancy.    But  how  accurate  and  life-like  they  are! 

17.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  name  Maccabee  was  de- 
rived from  the  initial  letters  of  the  war-cry  of  the  Jews  during 
the    struggle    with    Antiochus,  Mi-kamoka-baelim-adonai/' 


Jewispi  Characters  in  Fiction 


137 


Ludlow  seems  to  incline  to  this  view  (158),  though  why  he 
abbreviates,  we  do  not  know.  Most  likely,  however,  the  name 
comes  from  the  Hebrew  Makabah,"  meaning  "  hammer." 
Compare  title,  Martel,"  given  to  Charles,  the  famous  general 
among  the  Franks. 

18.  The  Book  of  Daniel  was  written  some  time  between  168 
and  164  B.  C.  Perhaps,  Psalms  44,  74,  79  and  83  were  also 
written  at  the  same  time. 

III.    Tests  and  Reviews. 

1.  What  brought  about  the  Maccabean  struggle?  Were  the 
Jews  at  all  responsible? 

2.  For  what  did  the  Jews  fight? 

3.  Trace  the  course  of  Jewish  history,  175-165  B.  C. 

4.  To  what  degree  had  the  Jews  fallen  under  Greek  influence? 

5.  What  was  the  difference  between  the  civilization  of  Greece 
and  that  of  Judea? 

6.  How  does  assimilation  differ  from  imitation? 

7.  What  are  the  dangers  of  emancipation,  the  blessings  of 
adversity? 

8.  Into  what  two  parties  did  the  struggle  divide  Judaism? 
What  attitudes  did  they  represent?  Compare  them  with  the 
Sadducees  and  Pharisees? 

9.  Compare  the  contributions  which  Greece,  Rome  and  Judea 
made  to  civilization. 

10.  Can  you  distinguish  fact  from  fiction  in  "  Deborah  "  ? 

11.  Name  some  literary  productions  of  the  Maccabean  period. 

IV.    Recommended  Readings. 

The  Maccabean  War. 

Josephus,    Antiquities,"  Book  XII,  chps.  3-1 1. 
Schiirer,  "  Jewish  People  in  Time  of  Jesus,''  I,  186-290. 


138  The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


Stanley,  ''History  of  Jewish  Church,"  III,  251-305. 

Conder,  ''Judas  Maccabeus." 

Riggs,  "  The  Maccabean  and  Roman  Period." 

Morrison,  "  Jews  under  the  Romans." 

Hudson,  "  History  of  Jews  in  Rome,"  1-35. 
Greek  Civilization. 

Mahaffy,  "  Greek  Life  and  Thought  from  Alexander  to  the 
Roman  Conquest." 

Mahafify,  "  A  Study  of  Greek  Civilization." 
Greek  Influence  upon  the  Jews. 

Montefiore,  "  Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion,"  374-382. 

Wellhausen,  "  History  of  Israel  and  Judah,"  137-162. 

Kuenen,  "  Religion  of  Israel,"  III,  63-147. 

Graetz,  I,  427  f.,  435  f. 

Oort-Hooykaas-Kuenen,  "  Bible  for  Learners,"  I,  544-54- 
Antiochus. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia. 
Origin  of  Name,  Maccabee. 

Britannica,  "  Judas  Maccabeus." 
Jewish  Literature  of  Maccabean  Period. 

Montefiore,  "  Bible  for  Home  Reading,"  II,  655-766. 

Driver,  "  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment," 360,  363-364,  458-483. 

V.    Readings  in  Class. 

Lazarus,  "  Gifts." 

Longfellow,  "Judas  Maccabeus."' 


Jewish  Characters  in  Fiction 


139 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Of  English  Fiction,  not  already  considered,  in  which  Jewish 
characters  appear. 

Sheridan. — The  School  for  Scandal/' 
Richardson. — The  Son  of  a  Star." 
Disraeli. — Coningsby.'' 
"  Alroy." 

Aguilar.^ — Home  Scenes  and  Heart  Studies." 
Farjeon. — A  Fair  Jewess." 

"  Pride  of  Race." 
Crawford. — Zoroaster." 

"  Witch  of  Prague." 
Zangwill. — Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto." 
They  that  Walk  in  Darkness." 
Tragedies  of  the  Ghetto." 
The  King  of  Schnorrers." 
Wolf.— ^  Other  Things  Being  Equal." 
Gordon. — Daughters  of  Shem." 
Ludlow. — King  of  Tyre." 
Edgeworth. — Harrington." 
Thackeray. — Burlesques." 
Kingsley. — Hypatia." 
Smollet. — "  Count  Fathom." 
Croly.— "  Salathiel  "  (Tarry  Thou  Till  I  Come). 
Levy. — Reuben  Sachs." 
Church. — The  Hammer." 
Yonge. — The  Patriots  of  Palestine." 
Hichens-Barret. — Daughters  of  Babylon." 
Jackson. — Son  of  a  Prophet." 
Lust. — A  Tent  of  Grace." 


140 


The  Chautauqua  System  of  Education 


O'Meara.— '  Narka  the  Nihilist/' 
Cahan.— "  Yekl." 

The  Imported  Bridegroom.'* 
Hope. — Quisante/' 
Caine. — The  Scapegoat." 
Wolfenstein.— '  Idylls  of  the  Gass." 
Ackerman. — The  Price  of  Peace." 
Goldsmith. — Rabbi  and  Priest." 

A  Victim  of  Conscience." 
Iliowizi.— '  In  the  Pale." 

SchnabeL— '  Voegele's  Marriage,  and  Other  Tales." 
Gerard. — Sawdust." 
Waldstein. — Ethics  of  the  Surface." 
Wallace.—"  Ben  Hur." 

"  Prince  of  India." 
Warfield.— "  Ghetto  Silho-uettes." 
Guttenberg. — Neither  Jew  nor  Greek." 
Bernstein. — "  In  the  Gates  of  Israel." 
Harding.—"  The  Gate  of  the  Kiss." 


